Carbonara alla romana

For ➋
200 g pasta (penne or straight macaroni)
3 yolks of organic eggs
70 g pecorino romano (18 months old)
80 g guanciale (pork jowl bacon from Amatrice, ideally aged 6-8 months)
penja pepper from the mill

Boil the pasta in strongly salted water (5 to 10 g per l), depending on the time indicated on the package.
In a mixing bowl au bain-marie, beat the egg yolks with half the cheese. Season with pepper to taste.
Bake the pieces of guanciale in a (preferably iron) pan, until golden brown and crispy. Separate the meat from the fat and set it aside so that it can be added later when the preparation is heated in a bain-marie.
Drain the pasta as soon as it is ready and put it in the bowl with the mixture of egg yolks and cheese. Heat au bain-marie like with a sabayon to lighten the dish.
Add 30 g of boiling water and the fat from the cheeks, together with the rest of the cheese and some pepper. If the mixture is too fluid, add some cheese. If it is too dry, add some cooking water from the starchy pasta.
Before serving, sprinkle a little cheese and a large pinch of pepper over the plate. Conclude with the guanciale (who must remain warm during the entire preparation). Serve at room temperature, with a glass of Franciacorta (Lombard sparkling wine)

A recipe from chef Filippo La Vecchia of Osteria Romana in Brussels.

Roman carbonara

For ➍
10 slices of guanciale, chopped (or pancetta)
500 g spaghetti
knob of butter
1 ts black peppercorns
5 egg yolks
1 egg
3 tbs young pecorino romano, softly grated

Cook spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water
In a sauté pan, heat a knob of butter, then put in the guanciale or pancetta and fry until golden and crispy. Take off the heat, and lift out to a warm plate, so that it stays crunchy.
Put about a teaspoonful of black peppercorns into the pan and crush with a meat hammer or the end of a rolling pin, then add a couple of spoonfuls of the cooking water from the pasta and stir it around to take up all the bits of guanciale or pancetta which may have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Beat 5 egg yolks and a whole egg in a warm bowl with 3 tbs of grated young pecorino romano.
1 m before the spaghetti is ready, start to mix in a ladleful of the cooking water at a time until the eggs and cheese become creamy.
Drain the pasta (but reserve the cooking water) and toss it in the pan of pepper, together with the reserved guanciale or pancetta.
Add a little more cooking water if the pasta seems too dry, then transfer it to the bowl of eggs and cheese and toss well, until coated in the silky mixture. The heat of the spaghetti will cook the eggs without scrambling them. Add more black pepper, if you like.

This recipe of Giorgio Locatelli uses guanciale, which comes from the pork cheek, and has less fat than pancetta. Don’t cut it too finely or regularly, as you want a nice chunk to bite into every now and then amid the silkiness of the egg.
Some people add the eggs and cheese to the pan, but it is easy to underestimate the heat of the pan, and the danger is always that the eggs will scramble. So I prefer to mix the eggs and cheese in a warm bowl and then tip in the hot spaghetti, which will cook the eggs but keep their silkiness.
The classic spaghetti carbonare recipe, with links to similar recipes.