Pasta maestro Andreas Papadakis explains how to elevate this classic.
Try to get a good piece of guanciale (cured pig’s cheek) from a deli or speciality butcher — I look for a good amount of fat, as it crisps up really well. I like to make my carbonara with a stock enriched with the guanciale skin and parmesan rinds that would otherwise go into the bin. This adds flavour and gives the carbonara a thick sauce-like texture, rather than the usual gluggy, paste-like one. And as you can almost boil this mixture without it splitting, you don’t need to worry so much about scrambling the egg.
- Remove the skin from the guanciale (reserving it for the stock), then cut the guanciale into 5mm (1/4 inch) dice.
- Bring 400ml (14 fl oz) of the chicken stock to the boil and add the reserved guanciale skin, along with any parmesan rinds you may have, then simmer gently for 30 minutes. You don’t want the stock to reduce too much, so cook it over very low heat. You should end up with about 250ml (1 cup) — make up this amount with more stock, if needed.
- Put the diced guanciale into a frying pan over very low heat and cook slowly until all the fat is rendered and it becomes very crispy — this could take up to 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, use a whisk or stick blender to mix the egg yolks and pecorino into the warm stock mixture until emulsified.
- Once the guanciale is done, use a slotted spoon to remove the crisp guanciale and set aside.
- Strain the rendered fat into the egg yolk mixture and whisk or blend again, then pour back into the frying pan and keep warm.
- Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente, according to the instructions on the package.
- Drain the pasta and add to the frying pan, then toss until the sauce thickens and coats the pasta.
- Grind in a generous amount of pepper, add the crisp guanciale and toss another couple of times – you may need to adjust the consistency with a little more stock.
- Divide between warmed bowls and serve with more grated pecorino.
Tipo 00: The Pasta Cookbook by Andreas Papadakis, $55, published by Murdoch Books
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