Tagliatelle Carbonara

Tagliatelle carbonara is a decadent yet very simple rendition of an Italian classic. By using only six ingredients, you can enjoy a lush plate of pasta in just 15 minutes!

Tagliatelle carbonara is a twist of the classic carbonara recipe that traditionally uses spaghetti.

Since carbonara sauce is the one that originally made me fall in love with pasta, I sometimes deviate from spaghetti and use the sauce in other combinations, like this delicious gnocchi carbonara, for example.

The ingredients for the sauce remain the same, though. Tagliatelle has a flat shape similar to fettuccine, so the taste will be slightly different from when you use spaghetti since they hold the sauce differently.

If you love all things carbonara, you should definitely give it a try with tagliatelle at least once.

Authentic pasta carbonara

Carbonara looks like a very simple recipe, especially when you look at the shortlist of ingredients, but it's actually easy to get it wrong.

The most common mistake with carbonara is messing up the heat and scrambling the eggs. You want to get a silky smooth, rich sauce, not bits of scrambled eggs.

Fortunately, the trick to avoid messing up carbonara is simple — never mix the pasta and the sauce over heat. All you need is the residual heat of the pan after you've turned the heat off.

Take the pan off the burner, too, because even when you turn the heat off, the burner will retain a lot of heat.

And if you're looking for the ultimate tip to make authentic carbonara, it's this — DON'T add cream.

That's the biggest carbonara no-no. All you need for the pasta to the creamy is the egg and some of the reserved pasta water.

Plus, it's not only about authenticity — adding cream to carbonara would make the pasta terribly greasy and probably quite unpleasant.

Ingredients and substitutions

Tagliatelle — You can, of course, use spaghetti as that's the traditional pasta shape for carbonara. But if you're looking to experiment a bit, you'll find that tagliatelle taste quite amazing in carbonara.

Fresh tagliatelle taste amazing in carbonara, so if you can use that, definitely go for it.

Guanciale — Guanciale is made from unsmoked or smoked pork jowl or cheeks.

It's usually wet-cured by being heavily salted, spiced with peppercorns, sugar, and herbs such as bay leaves, thyme, and laurel leaves. Sometimes it's basted with wine or other liquids during the curing process.

Since it can be difficult to find guanciale outside of Italy, you can substitute it with pancetta.

Egg yolks — Room temperature eggs are best for carbonara. That's because cold eggs may lead to clumps.

Taking the eggs out of the fridge before starting (or even earlier if you can remember) is always a good idea.

Pecorino Romano — You'll find recipes for carbonara made with Pecorino Romano and others made with Parmigiano Reggiano.

That depends on personal taste and also the region of Italy you find yourself in. Pecorino Romano is spicier, while Parmesan is milder.

You can write volumes on the rivalry of the two kinds of cheese in carbonara, but the general consensus is that Pecorino Romano is the authentic way to go.

How do you make tagliatelle carbonara?

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.
• If using fresh pasta, keep the water boiling and only add the pasta 2-3 minutes before the sauce is ready.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pan (or skip it if using non-stick) and fry the guanciale or pancetta and gently fry over medium heat for 5 minutes. I sometimes like to add a whole garlic clove to the oil and cook for a minute to infuse some flavour in the oil, but that's entirely optional. If you choose to do that, remove the garlic clove before adding the pancetta to the pan.
• Be careful not to burn the pancetta — it should be crispy but not burnt.

• Mix the egg yolks with most of the pecorino romano in a bowl and add 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water to dilute the mixture a bit.
• When the guanciale is ready, turn off the heat. Drain the pasta (reserve a cup of water) and add it to the pan.
• Mix it with guanciale and then pour the egg and pecorino mixture. Toss to coat evenly and add a bit of extra pasta water if needed to make it creamy.
• Serve immediately topped with the remaining pecorino cheese and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Extra recipe tips

• Make sure the heat is turned off when you add the egg and pecorino mixture. This can't be stressed enough. If the pan is too hot, you'll end up with scrambled eggs instead of a deliciously creamy texture.
• Add the egg mixture slowly but immediately after moving the pan off the heat. The pasta should be hot enough to cook the eggs.
• Pasta carbonara is best served immediately. It's not something that can be reheated or frozen, so don't waste time — get right in and enjoy it on the spot.

If you liked this tagliatelle carbonara recip, have a look at some of my other Italian recipes:

• Creamy Italian Sausage Gnocchi Soup
• Easy Italian Meatball Soup
• Risotto with Italian Sausage (Risotto con Salsiccia)
• Pasta alla Boscaiola (Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta)
• Asparagus and Artichoke Risotto (Risotto ai Carciofi)

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