Carbonara (traditional)

Serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients
6 oz guanciale after skin is removed, Cut into 1/4 inch thick slices then into batons (substitute with pancetta or block bacon)
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks (I freeze my leftover whites for other purposes)
3.5 oz Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino, finely shredded (Romano or Parmesan as replacement, *Do not use store bought pre-grated, it won’t melt properly*)
1/4 tsp black pepper
14 oz dried spaghetti/pasta (can go a little heavier on pasta for a larger serving, linguini works well for this purpose, most other shapes hold too much of the sauce)
1 1/2 Tbsp salt (for cooking pasta, this water will help salt the finished dish)
1/2 cup pasta cooking water (save 1 cup, in case more is required)
1 Tbsp oil (for cooking pasta)
1 Tbsp Fresh parsley, chopped to about 1/2 in (can substitute 1/2 Tbsp of dried, if required)
1/2 to 1 garlic clove, finely minced (optional, not traditionally used)

Budget considerations: Use block bacon instead of guanciale/pancetta, and parmesan instead of Parmigiano Reggiano for a very respectable version of carbonara

Instructions

As far as I know, traditionally, the hot pasta and hot starch water cook the eggs, but I have trouble getting the cheese to melt… this is how I do the dish

Carbonara sauce prep. Place eggs and yolks in a large bowl. Whisk to combine, stir in the parmesan, pepper, and garlic

Cook the pasta. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil with the salt and oil. Add pasta and cook per the package directions

Cook guanciale (in a pan big enough to also hold the finished pasta) on medium low heat, if it starts to smoke, turn it down. Stir almost constantly. This will come together in less than 8 minutes if the pieces are small enough. Be sure the fat and meat starts to brown. We want crispy little bits. Set aside to wait for pasta

Reserve pasta water. Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta

After draining pasta, add pasta to pan with guanciale and stir to coat pasta in the rendered fat

Temper egg mixture with 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water, adding a splash of the water at a time while mixing

Add egg mixture to pan with guanciale and pasta and start mixing for at least 1 minute. Dot it quickly but with a tool that doesn’t break up the pasta too much… a wooden spoon or just the handle of a wooden spoon would work. Put pan back on low heat and continue to stir, adding additional reserved pasta water as needed. We want a thick sauce but the additional heating can evaporate off too much water. This should not take more than 1-2 minutes if it hasn’t cooled too long, but we do want to melt the cheese. Add 1/2 of the parsley and stir in

Serve and garnish with remaining parsley