{"id":8029,"date":"2023-03-21T10:31:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T17:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=8029"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:35","slug":"spaghetti-alla-carbonara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/21\/spaghetti-alla-carbonara\/","title":{"rendered":"Spaghetti alla Carbonara"},"content":{"rendered":"

21 March 2023<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cacio e Pepe, Pasta alla Gricia, Spaghetti all\u2019Amatriciana, and Spaghetti alla Carbonara are the Holy Quaternity of Roman pasta dishes.<\/p>\n

The sauce for Cacio e Pepe is little more than Pecorino Romano cheese emulsified into some of the pasta-cooking water to make a glossy sauce.\u00a0 Pasta alla Gricia adds cured pork, usually guanciale, to Cacio e Pepe.\u00a0 Amatriciana adds tomato to Gricia while\u00a0 Carbonara adds egg to Gricia.<\/p>\n

And there you have it, arguably the four most important pasta dishes of Roman cuisine.<\/p>\n

The origins of Spaghetti alla Carbonara are murky.\u00a0 Given the obvious relationship between these four pasta dishes one might think that there\u2019s not much to talk about, one just naturally leading into the other.\u00a0 However, there is some intriguing evidence, and a little speculation, about the origins of Carbonara.<\/p>\n

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The evidence and speculation go like this.\u00a0 During the Allied liberation of Rome during WWII, the bacon and (powdered) eggs of American GI rations were combined with pasta to make a proto-Carbonara.\u00a0 Some Italians agree with this, and some do not.\u00a0 Those who do not usually insist that the cured pork product of choice is guanciale (cured pork jowl) not pancetta (cured pork belly) let alone American bacon.<\/p>\n

But think about it.\u00a0 How likely is it that the Romans had any cured pork hanging around near the end of WWII?\u00a0 It\u2019s more likely that they consumed anything that was consumable by then.\u00a0 The existence of guanciale in any significant quantity is unlikely.\u00a0 In addition, the first reference to Spaghetti alla Carbonara appeared in the newspaper La Stampa in 1950<\/a>, indicating it was a favorite of American GIs.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s entirely possible that Spaghetti alla Carbonara existed prior to WWII and was made with guanciale.\u00a0 After the Allied liberation of Rome, it\u2019s reasonable to see how GI rations of (powdered) egg and bacon could have been substituted for fresh eggs and guanciale.\u00a0 It\u2019s also possible, even probable, that if it existed before the 1940s, Carbonara wasn\u2019t written about because it was part of the cuisine of the poor (cucina povera<\/em>).\u00a0 Despite our current fascination with traditional cuisine, until recently culinary history largely focused on foods eaten by the upper classes, not the poor.<\/p>\n

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Unless more evidence comes to light, we may never know the origins of Spaghetti alla Carbonara.\u00a0 Even so, there are some things we can say definitively:<\/p>\n

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  1. Adding cream to Carbonara is an abomination!<\/li>\n
  2. If not the original meat, American bacon has a legitimate place in the history of Carbonara.<\/li>\n
  3. Carbonara is delicious, whether made with guanciale, bacon, or pancetta.\u00a0 Yes, each is different but each is delicious!\u00a0 I\u2019ve used all of them.\u00a0 I prefer bacon but I\u2019ll never turn down a well-made dish (or three) of Spaghetti alla Carbonara regardless of what cured pork product went into it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The most challenging part of making carbonara is to incorporate the eggs, getting them to thicken into a sauce without either remaining raw or turning into scrambled eggs.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got a little trick that eliminates these concerns.<\/p>\n

    Read on!

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    Spaghetti alla Carbonara<\/h2>\n
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    Spaghetti alla Carbonara is one of the four classic Roman pasta dishes, along with Cacio e Pepe, Pasta alla Gricia, and Spaghetti all\u2019Amatriciana. It can be made with guanciale, American bacon, or pancetta though guanciale and bacon probably have the greatest claim on tradition. My preference is bacon. If using guanciale, I sometimes decrease the amount by 10% because it usually has more fat than either bacon or pancetta.<\/div>\n
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    \n Print Recipe<\/a>\n Pin Recipe<\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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    Prep Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    Cook Time <\/span>20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    Total Time <\/span>35 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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    Servings: <\/span>6<\/span> people<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Ingredients
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