Italian-style Carbonara

This recipe was found online and has since been tweaked and has become a favorite.

For 4 restaurant-size portions (or 2 large ones, like the one pictured above) you will need the following.

Ingredients:

* 1 Pack of pasta (I personally prefer linguine)
* 5 eggs
* 200gr of grated Grana Padano
* 200gr of grated Pecorino Romano
* Black pepper (to taste, freshly ground if possible)
* And the star of the show, 300gr of guanciale

Utensils and pots

A pasta pot

A pasta ladle

A non-stick pan

A wooden spoon

A big bowl (big enough to hold the pasta and a little more)

A whisker or fork

A tablespoon

A plate and paper towels

A grater

A knife and cutting board

If you need fewer or more portions, scale ingredients accordingly. As far as the eggs are concerned, err on the side of excess (I'd use 3 eggs for 1 large portion, for example). You're encouraged to tinker, experiment and find a balance your palate is most happy with.

Do note that depending on your deli or wherever you get your guanciale, it's a good idea to ask them to thinly slice it beforehand instead of getting one solid block.
Guanciale is extremely fatty, and slicing it to size at home can be both tedious and messy, so it's better that your starting point are thin slices instead of a block of fat and meat.

You also probably want to avoid guanciale pieces with the very hard crust (a.k.a. pellicles), but it's not a dealbreaker. If the texture bothers you, just cut the crusty parts off.

Execution:

1) Prepare the ingredients, which basically means grate the cheeses (if not pre-grated) and slice the guanciale to small strips. You should have something like this when you start:

  

 

2) Heat the pan, and, once hot, add the guanciale strips as is. Do not add oil to the pan. The fat will immediately start becoming translucent and eventually fry, while your guanciale will begin swimming (and frying) in its own liquid fats. Once brown and crispy, remove the pieces from the pan and set them on the plate with paper towels to soak up the excess oily fat. Set the pan and its liquid contents aside, you will need it again.

3) Boil salted water, and once hot add the pasta in and let cook for 7-8 minutes, occasionally stirring.

4) Whisk five eggs in the bowl. Add some black pepper and whisk again.

5) Add the cheeses in the egg mix and whisk well.

6) Remember that pan full of hot, liquid guanciale fat? Well, slowly add 2-3 tablespoons of it in the mix while still whisking vigorously.

By this time, your pasta should be ready (or close to it).

7) Add 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water (that is, the water the pasta has been boiling in) in the mix while still mixing well.

8) Drain the pasta and dump it on top of the mixture in the bowl.

9) Add the guanciale in the bowl as well.

10) Hold the bowl over the steam coming off the pasta pot and stir/combine everything well until you get a creamy consistency and cheese is melted/incorporated fully. Don't overdo it or you'll get a pasta omelette.

Serve, and bon appetito!