An Italian classic, just as good with gluten free pasta.
Tom’s dad first made this for us many years ago, when we first started going out. Since then Tom has taught me the recipe all the ingredients are naturally gluten free, so the only change I had to make was the pasta. Traditionally carbonara doesn’t contain chicken but if we have some leftovers from a Sunday dinner its a welcome extra.
In some parts of Italy they’ll usually serve a carbonara without the addition of cream. They mix all the ingredients together in a still-hot pan or pre-heated serving dish and bring it to the table to serve family style, then allow the eggs to heat through before everybody dishes up. The addition of just a splash of cream – and a few extra seconds on the stove to make sure it’s all cooked – will turn an eggy Welsh Rarebit topping into a delicious Italian pasta sauce.
In a saucepan, bring 1.5-2 litres of water to the boil for the pasta
In a frying pan, fry the pancetta in the pan (no need for oil). Add garlic and pepper to your tastes
Dice the onion and add to the pan
Chop the mushrooms and add to the frying pan
Once the water is to the boil add the spaghetti, follow on the instructions on the packet - usually takes about 10 minutes
While the pasta cooks, grate the Pecorino and Parmesan cheese (it's better to use a fine grater for a smoother sauce) crack in the eggs and mix with the cheese.
Once cooked, drain the pasta
Into the pan where the pasta was cooked add in the drained pasta, frying pan contents and eggy cheese
Mix over a very low heat to mix the eggs and stir in the cream (if you're adding it) just before serving.
Recipe Notes
Traditionally served with spaghetti but carbonara also goes well with gluten free tagliatelle. For some reason it doesn't seem the same with a short pasta like penne or fusili!
