Travel Tales From Rome

 True spaghetti Carbonara does not bear any relation to the creamy, heavy and gloopy version that is often served outside of Italy. The original version is full of flavor and needs only to be served with a glass of wine and a fresh green salad to experience one of Rome’s most traditional dishes.

Anita Pirri, out guest cook and Travel Tales From Rome contributor gives us her local recipe for you to try at home:

“I don’t know the reason, but a lot of non-Italian people I meet, know the name of this recipe and wanted absolutely to taste it. I’m happy about this as it’s a typical recipe from Rome city, my home town, but at first I must “beg you”: please, don’t cook it with cream!”

Ingredients for 4 people:
- 4/5 free range eggs;
- 100/150 gr grated roman pecorino cheese;
- 100/150 gr bacon;
- 320/400 gr spaghetti;
- Salt; – 1 teaspoon of oil

1) Cook the bacon until its soft in a nonstick pan with the oil. Be careful, the bacon must not cook too much. It must not be crispy.
2) Meanwhile, put on the heat a big pan for the pasta with water and let it warm gently (note – Italians only use huge pans to cook pasta as the water to pasta ratio must be very high).
3) Put a large bowl on the pan with the water, add the eggs and whip them over the heat. Gradually beat in the eggs and the grated pecorino cheese while the bowl becomes warm.
4) When the bacon is cold and the eggs are well- mixed with the cheese (they must be creamy) put the bacon in the eggs mixture and blend everything together.
5) Cook the spaghetti in the cooking water with some of salt. 6) When the spaghetti is cooked put it in the bowl with eggs and bacon, mix it altogether and cover the pasta with more grated pecorino cheese.

The secret of this recipe is the creaminess of the eggs with cheese. To obtain it you must mix the eggs very thoroughly and for long time with the beater. Good luck!

Restaurant Tip – for authentic carbonara in Rome’s centre, try ‘La Carbonara’ restaurant on Via Panisperna.

Checkout Anita’s Other Recipes:
2. Artichoke ‘alla guidia’
3. Bucatini alla Amatriciana