Pasta Carbonara (Amalfi Coast Recipe) - Tastefully Grace (2024)

FAQs

What is the golden rule of cooking a carbonara? ›

The golden rule to silky carbonara is to whisk your egg whites so that they're completely incorporated with the egg yolks. This will create a smooth, velvety sauce. As like any pasta dish, including carbonara, cook the pasta perfectly al dente so that it's soft but still firm, with some bite.

In traditional Italian carbonara, cream is the ingredient that should never be used. Authentic carbonara is made with eggs, hard cheese (like Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano), pancetta or guanciale (cured pork cheek), and black pepper.

Spaghetti alla Nerano is one of the most famous pasta dishes from our corner of Italy's south; the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast.

Should carbonara have cream? Typically carbonara sauce is only made of eggs, bacon, parmesan, olive oil, seasoning, and sometimes, vegetables. As for cream, Italians will tell you that is a big no no.

In a large, metal heatproof mixing bowl, whisk together whole eggs and yolks, Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and black pepper. Using tongs and/or a strainer, transfer pasta to skillet with crisped guanciale and its fat; be sure not to drain boiling pasta water.

Based on the results, it should be advisable the use of thermo-processed eggs to ensure the safety of this preparation.

The difference between modern carbonara and classic carbonara lies primarily in the ingredients. Classic carbonara is made with just bacon, Parmesan cheese, and eggs while modern carbonara often includes additional ingredients such as garlic, onion, cream or milk, parsley, and sometimes even peas.

The sauce is made with raw egg yolks and is cooked by using only the heat from the cooked pasta. Some people have concerns about the safety of this dish due to the possibility of egg yolks be contaminated with salmonella. In fact, the hot cooked pasta does fully cook the egg. I hope that this answers your question.

Where do celebrities eat on the Amalfi Coast? The place on the Amalfi Coast where it's easiest to encounter "famous faces" is the village of Nerano. Here, the jet-set crowd disembarks from their yachts to dine in cliffside restaurants such as Lo Scoglio and La Conca del Sogno.

Su filindeu—literally “threads of God” in Sardo—is unfathomably intricate. It's made by only three women on Earth, all of whom live on Sardinia. And they make it only for the biannual Feast of San Francesco. It's been this way for the last 200 years.

Why is it called Dirty Carbonara? ›

Dirty Carbonara differs from traditional Carbonara in that it often includes heavy cream in addition to the classic ingredients of eggs, cheese, and pork. This addition of heavy cream is what gives it the “dirty” designation.

What cheese should I use in carbonara? Pecorino Romano, a sharp sheep's milk cheese, can lean salty, especially when combined with cured pork in carbonara, but a 50:50 ratio of Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino Romano hit the ideal mark, balancing sharp, salty, and nutty flavors.

I always use 1 egg yolk for every egg I add. This makes the carbonara perfectly creamy. The argument against using egg whites is that they cook quicker than egg yolks. I prefer it, but you have to maintain control over the heat of the pan.

Whisk Like You Mean It

You're using more egg yolks than whites here, which is what makes carbonara so rich and luxurious. But there's still two eggs-worth of whites in there. Whisking your eggs so that the whites are completely incorporated into the yolks will give your sauce a more uniform texture.

This might be the most important step in making carbonara. Before adding the eggs and cheese to the pasta, you MUST turn off the heat. If you don't, you could overcook your sauce and turn it into scrambled eggs. The residual heat from the hot noodles and pasta water will cook the egg yolks without scrambling them.

Add extra pasta cooking water to keep it saucy (several tablespoons should do it). You don't want it wet, just moist. Season with a little salt, if needed.

What happens if you overcook carbonara? The pasta will break apart and get soggy but more importantly the egg yolks will get scrambled and make the sauce grainy – it wont have that velvet smooth, luscious, creamy pasta sauce.