CARBONARA

The mere thought of this sauce is already making me crave the whole plate.

I mean, pasta, fried bacon + eggs + cheese, can it HONESTLY get any better?

Traditionally Carbonara uses cured pork cheek called Guanciale.

It has a high fat percentage and a lovely smokey flavour.

If you can't get a hold of it, just use some Pancetta instead, which is basically Italian bacon - cured pork belly. Delicious by itself, even better once it crisps up.

The other grand rule of the Italians is to NEVER, and I mean NEVER use cream inside of the sauce. The creaminess should come from the mixture of the cheese and eggs, which creates this almost velvety smooth sauce.

Your ingredients are the following; spaghetti, rigatoni - which ever pasta shape you like + Guanciale or Pancetta + Eggs + Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano, and freshly ground black pepper.

Simple, but utterly delicious. Let's get on with it!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

250g pasta of your choice
50g Guanciale or Pancetta, cut into chunky pieces
2 fresh eggs
50g Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano (or just use half of both)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper

Place a large pot of water on high heat, and season with salt generously. While waiting for it to come to a rolling boil, chop up your Guanciale or Pancetta into cubes.

Fry the pieces until they crisp up on both sides in some olive oil.

Crack the eggs in a large bowl and mix them up with a whisk. Add your cheese and stir to combine. You can season the mixture with a little bit of salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. Be careful with the salt though, since the cured meat is already pretty salty.

Once the water is vigorously boiling, add in your pasta. Cook according to package instructions, or until the pasta is al dente.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve some of the water that it was cooking in.

This water contains starch from the pasta, and will help to thicken your sauce.

While whisking, temper the eggs with a little bit of the reserved water.

Make sure to whisk the mixture fast, so that your eggs don't turn into scrambled eggs : ).

Place the pasta and the Guanciale/Pancetta into the eggy mixture, and toss to coat the pasta evenly. Give it a minute or two before you serve, so that it can absorb some of the sauce.

Top up with more freshly grated cheese of your choice, and black pepper.

That's literally it guys, the easiest, yet one the most indulgent and comforting dishes ever.