← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 400 g Spaghetti
• 150 g guanciale or pancetta, cut into small strips
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 75 g Pecorino romano, finely grated, plus extra to serve
• 25 g Parmesan, finely grated
• 1 tsp Black pepper, freshly and coarsely ground
• salt, for the pasta water

Method

1. Bring a big pot of water to the boil and salt it well. While it heats, whisk the eggs, yolks, both cheeses and most of the pepper in a bowl into a thick paste.
2. Put the pork in a cold, wide frying pan and set it over medium heat. Let the fat melt out slowly for 8–10 min, until the edges are golden and crisp. Turn off the heat and keep the fat in the pan.
3. Cook the spaghetti until just al dente, about 1 minute less than the packet says. Scoop out a mug of the starchy cooking water before you drain it.
4. Tip the drained pasta into the pork pan (the heat must be off) and toss for 1 minute so it cools a little and soaks up the fat.
5. Stir 3 tbsp of the pasta water into the egg mix, then pour it over the pasta. Toss fast and keep everything moving: the eggs should thicken into a silky sauce, not scramble. Add splashes of water until it coats every strand.
6. Serve straight away with the rest of the pepper and a little more pecorino.

Tips

• If the sauce looks thin, toss over the lowest heat for a few seconds; if it starts to clump, add a splash of pasta water off the heat.
• Guanciale (cured pork cheek) is the Roman choice; good smoked bacon works too.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food RecipeTin Eats