Spaghetti Carbonara [Video and recipe] - #CookWithIsh Twitter Live

Earlier this week I made spaghetti carbonara and promised to share my recipe. With a bit of planning you can make it in about 12 minutes from the point your pot of water is boiling. Simultaneously I managed to anger half of Twitter. My addition of garlic to flavour the pancetta was frowned on by some. A generous bunch of finely chopped parsley deemed a cry for help by others.

The authenticity of recipes is fiercely debated usually with a sprinkle of hypocrisy larger than the quantity of parsley that I used. Some swore by a recipe which on closer inspection contained other ingredients not seen in what is consider the original. I have my own bugbears. The person who made a ‘Hot Gazpacho’ on Masterchef had clearly gone mad and the less I say about my reaction the first time I saw ‘Vegetarian Chorizo’, the better.

This is my carbonara then. You make yours. Just remember if it’s not identical to mine, you are wrong. There. I’ve said it.

In an ideal world I’d use guanciale but you won’t find it on every High Street. If you can find it, use it, as the flavour is unbeatable. You won’t need butter to help render it as you do pancetta.

In Rome they use pecorino rather than Parmesan. I find it too jagged and in some cases mouth puckering. I much prefer Parmesan.

You will need:

a large pot

a high sided saucepan

a sharp knife

Kitchen tongs

a chopping board

a fine grater

a couple of bowls

Ingredients (serves 2):

two eggs

50g of parmesan (or pecorino)

one large clove of garlic

150g of spaghetti

some parsley

150g cubed smoked pancetta or better still, guanciale

Carbonara

Step 1: Pancetta

Take the pancetta out of the fridge. It’s easier to render fat and evenly cook meat that is not fridge cold.

Step 2: Boil the water

Take a large pot. No, not that one, a bigger one. The biggest one you have. Pasta like needs lots of space to cook evenly and without sticking. If you’ve previously ended up with a clump of pasta stuck to each other and the bottom of the pot you aren’t using a vessel big enough. I use a five litre one and it’s ideal for making soups and chilli. They aren’t pricey either. I have an OUMBÄRLIG. No, that’s not some fancy brand but one from Ikea for £15. Fill the pot with cold water, add lots of salt, pop the lid on and let it come to the boil. To quote Nigella who was quoting someone else (and I’m too lazy to find out who) ‘Pasta should be boiled in water as salty as the sea’. Oh and don’t add oil because it’s a waste of oil. It just sits on the surface because as we all know, oil and water do not mix.

Step 3: Prep

Prep

While the water is boiling you can prep all the ingredients. When you watch chefs on TV casually toss something into a pan or chop an onion while they cook it’s because they can. Either someone has carefully done all their prep or they can chop an onion at speed. Also, they are unencumbered by distractions. When was the last time you saw one of them being asked to approve purchase of an App from the App Store halfway through cooking?

Weigh 150g of spaghetti and set aside. I know this is dull but ratios are important here. You want just enough egg to coat the pasta without being soupy and not so little that the strands are left sticky but not coated. At a push you could go up to 200g if you like a bigger dish. The quantities above are for two portions. You could double it to make for four and at a stretch treble it to make for six. Beyond that you are going to find the amount of pasta slightly unmanageable to coat quickly with egg and achieve the result you want.

Beat two eggs in a bowl and set aside. Given that they are going to be barely cooked by the residual heat from both pasta and pan, I’d suggest you use the best quality and freshest eggs you can. Don’t add salt. There’s plenty in this recipe and it breaks down raw egg if it sits for any length of time. Do add a few twists of black pepper.

Finely chop the parsley. For this you will need a sharp knife to cut cleanly through it and retain its flavour. A dull knife mainly bruises herbs and they leach out their vibrant flavour. But chopped finely with a sharp knife and you’ll end up with a sweet and mildly herbaceous punch to the finished dish. A note on buying herbs and parsley in particular. It should be stunningly green and stand to attention when you buy it. If it’s looking like pre autumnal leaves on a tree and slouching like you midway through a Netflix box set then it’s past its best and should be avoided.

Peel a large clove of garlic and gently bruise so that it cracks open but stays whole. You need to be able to fish it out because it’s not part of final dish.

Finally, grate 50g of Parmesan into a bowl using a fine grater, ideally a microplane, and set aside.

Step 4: Put the pasta on to boil

When the water comes to the boil, drop in your spaghetti and using a pair of tongs, help it into the water until entirely submerged. Then jiggle. The spaghetti, not you. Or you as well if that helps. (Editor: Ishan, you’ve done this joke before. IK: I don’t have an editor. Ed: You are your Editor. IK: Then why are you talking to yourself? Ed: No idea. Okay, I think people are looking. Let’s stop. IK: Let’s). The pasta will quickly soften but moving it about occasionally will also help prevent it sticking. Put a timer on for 10 minutes.

Step 5: Pancetta

Melt the butter in a high sided saucepan over a medium heat and then add the cubed pancetta with the lightly bruised clove of garlic. If you are using guanciale then you won’t need butter. Stir occasionally for about five minutes until the fat has rendered and is crisp and golden. Take it off the heat and spoon most of the fat out into a bowl. Don’t throw it away, you’ll need it again but this way you can control the heat of the pan and the amount of fat in the dish. Remove the garlic and discard.

Warm the bowls you are going to serve the pasta in while you wait for the spaghetti to cook.

Step 6: Combing all the ingredients

When the pasta is cooked, use a pair of tongs to transfer it directly from the water to the saucepan of pancetta. Toss it together with the pancetta and an espresso cup of the pasta water. (Really, trust me. The Italians do this and it works wonders). If it looks a little dry, add a spoon or two of the buttery pancetta fat to loosen. Now add the most of the parsley and cheese (leave a little of both to sprinkle over when you serve) and all of the eggs. At this point you need to toss and mix the pasta quickly coat it with the egg. A combination of mixing and lifting and dropping the pasta will achieve this.

Does anyone read captions anymore?

Step 7: Serve

Divide the pasta between two bowls. Pour over any remaining sauce and pancetta from the pan. Sprinkle the reserved parsley and parmesan over the top and eat immediately. Pasta waits for no one.

I like to serve rocket leaves dressed with extra virgin olive oil on the side.

Pairs nicely with a Gavi, unoaked Chardonnay or a cold glass of Pinot Noir.