Cheater Carbonara

Don’t tell your Italian friend about my use of cream in this recipe

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Cut your guanciale into pretty small pieces and heat on medium low in a large heavy bottom pan. Add a couple good pinches of salt. Stir occasionally and cook until fat renders and meat becomes crispy

Step 2

Grate LOTS of Parmigiano reggiano (it has to be the real stuff, I’m sorry I know it’s expensive) into a bowl. The cheese is fluffy when grated (using a microplane), you will want this fluffy mass of cheese to be about the size of 3-4 eggs

Step 3

Add a generous amount of black pepper, the egg yolks, and the one whole egg to this bowl. Stir to combine

Step 4

Cook spaghetti to al dente, reserve a cup of pasta water, strain

Step 5

While spaghetti is still very hot, add it to the pan you used for the guanciale (the rendered fat should still be in the bottom). While stirring, slowly add egg and cheese mixture to the pan of spaghetti and fat. Add a splash or two of pasta water and continue to stir constantly. If the sauce doesn’t cream up to your liking, you can add a splash or two of heavy cream here

Step 6

Plate and garnish with the crispy guanciale from earlier and some sliced cherry tomatoes if you’d like. The tomatoes aren’t traditional, but I like how their freshness and acidity cuts through the heavy fattiness of the sauce