Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara with Spring Onions
Serves 6
Creamy spaghetti carbonara is a comfort food fave!
Ingredients
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 pound dried spaghetti
- 1/2 pound guanciale, pancetta or bacon
- 8 small spring onions or scallions, trimmed
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or Grana Padano cheese
- 1/2 lemon, for squeezing
Directions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. As the water heats, season it well with salt. You should be able to taste the salt in the water (like the ocean!).
- Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring often to prevent sticking, until al dente.
- Drain the pasta over a medium size bowl, reserving about 1 1/2 cups of the starchy cooking water.
- Cut the guanciale into half-inch pieces. Cook in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, stirring until crisp, 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, reserving the fat in the pan.
- Slice the onions crosswise thinly; chop the garlic. Add the EVOO, onions and garlic to the skillet; cook over low heat for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let cool for 1 minute.
- Whisk the eggs until well blended. Stir them into the onion mixture in the skillet.
- Dump the hot spaghetti into the skillet. Using tongs, toss the pasta with the egg mixture. Add some of the reserved starchy cooking water to thin the sauce.
- Wait until the egg mixture has coated all of the spaghetti, then sprinkle in the cheese and guanciale and continue to toss, adding cooking water as needed.
- Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss well. Squeeze the lemon half over the pasta. Serve immediately.
Recipe by Tracey Seaman, Test Kitchen Director, Every Day with Rachael Ray. Reprinted with permission from Every Day with Rachael Ray.