Carbonara at Home: Recipe and NY-Style Sauce

This is a from-scratch recipe for Carbonara at Home: Recipe and NY-Style Sauce. If you have bought a prepared Providoor dish, use its product instructions instead; the raw ingredients and cooking times below do not apply to reheating it.

The egg-and-guanciale recipe below is distinct from Providoor’s cream-based NY Style Carbonara sauce. Use pasteurised egg for this lightly cooked sauce; see the NSW Food Authority guidance.

Recipe yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 200g bronze-die dried spaghetti
• 120g guanciale, cut into short thick batons
• Pasteurised egg equivalent to 3 eggs
• 60g Pecorino Romano DOP, finely grated
• 10g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
• Black peppercorns, coarsely cracked
• Salt, for the pasta water

Method

1. Put the water on. Two litres of water for 200g of pasta, salted more lightly than usual because the pecorino is already salty and the water becomes part of the sauce.
2. Render the guanciale from cold. Put the guanciale into a dry, cold pan and bring the heat up slowly over twelve to fifteen minutes on low. You are melting the fat out, not frying it.
3. Bloom the pepper. Crack the peppercorns coarsely into the rendered fat and let them warm for thirty seconds to release the oils.
4. Lift the meat out and keep the fat. Set the crisp guanciale aside on paper. Every drop of rendered fat stays in the pan.
5. Build the egg base. Whisk the eggs with both cheeses into a thick paste, then loosen with a spoonful of the warm rendered fat, whisking constantly. This tempers the egg exactly as you would for a custard.
6. Cook the pasta one minute short. Cook the spaghetti one minute short of the packet time. Reserve a mugful of the starchy cooking water before draining.
7. Take the pan off the heat. Remove the pan from the burner. Add the drained pasta, then the pasteurised egg mixture and a splash of pasta water, tossing continuously. Do not treat residual heat alone as a validated food-safety method for raw eggs.
8. Adjust and serve immediately. Add pasta water a spoonful at a time until the sauce flows like a thin custard. Return the guanciale, add more pepper and cheese, and serve at once.

Serving and preparation notes

Cooking times depend on your equipment and ingredient size. Keep raw-food preparation separate from ready-to-eat food and follow appropriate storage directions. This recipe is distinct from the product sold below.

Prefer a prepared dish?

NY Style Carbonara is a separate product with its own ingredients, serving count and preparation. Check the current page and latest packaging before use.

For prepared meals, use the reheating guide. Explore the current menu and postcode delivery.