Looking for a delicious pasta dish that can be made in a pinch? Try this quick and easy rigatoni carbonara recipe, packed with flavor and ready in under 30 minutes.
This creamy pasta carbonara is a Roman pasta dish known as rigatoni alla carbonara. It is quick to make and so delicious. All you need is egg yolks, pasta water, Pecorino Romano and Guanciale to make it.
Rome is famous for 4 particular Italian pasta dishes (Amatriciana, Carbonara, Cacio pepe and Pasta alla gricia). Of those, this one is my favorite because it is a creamy, simple, and delicious Italian meal that comes together in the time it takes to boil your pasta water.
In fact, I make many versions of this dish from spaghetti alla carbonara with peas to mushroom carbonara. Once you get the hang of this classic version, feel free to change things up.
I will walk you through how to make this classic Roman pasta dish at home and what I was taught working in restaurants for getting a super creamy carbonara.
Ingredients And Substitutions
- Pecorino Romano: This is a nice salty and dry Italian cheese. If you prefer, you can also use Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Rigatoni: You can also use penne, rigatoni, or spaghetti.
- Large eggs: Only the egg yolks.
- Guanciale: which is cured pork jowl and is traditional in making a carbonara. If you cannot find that, pancetta (which is cured pork belly) makes a great substitute.
- Pasta water
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
How to make Rigatoni Carbonara
- Cook guanciale : The very first thing that you want to do is saute your guanciale. It should be nice and crisp and the fat rendered out which is going to give your pasta so much flavor.
- Whip egg yolks: Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl.
- Grate Cheese: Grate the Pecorino Romano finely then set aside.
- Cook the rigatoni: Make sure to cook the pasta only until al dente and salt the water well. Reserve a couple cups of the pasta water before draining.
- Temper the egg yolks: Here you very slowly add some of the hot pasta water to the eggs before adding it to the pasta. This helps prevent the eggs from curdling when the hot pasta and egg mixture are combined.
- Assemble: Once everything is ready and the pasta is cooked, you want to toss it all together quickly then serve.
Tips For Carbonara Success!
- For the creamiest carbonara: The key to a super creamy carbonara is to reserve ample amounts of pasta water that you will mix into the egg yolks to make the sauce. When you cook your pasta, do not use as much water as you normally would when making pasta. I like to fill my pasta pot only ¾ of the way up when making carbonara because it makes the pasta water more starchy. That starchy water helps make your carbonara extra creamy!
- Have all the ingredients ready before cooking the pasta: Once the pasta is cooked, everything is quickly assembled so making sure the other ingredients are ready is important.
- Choose fresh eggs: You want to make sure you are using the freshest eggs for this recipe since the eggs are only lightly tempered before eating. Also, fresh eggs have vivid egg yolks which gives the carbonara sauce that classic orange color.
- Good substitutes for Guanciale: If you cannot find guanciale, you can use pancetta or bacon in place of it. Try to find bacon that is not smoked or flavored (ie apple smoked) if you can.
Storage and Reheating
Carbonara is best eaten right away. In Italy, Italians do not store leftover pasta and prefer to make it fresh. When I am at home in the U.S. I do store my leftover pasta. For this just allow it to mostly cool then store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for no more than 24 hours.
To re-heat the pasta, place a dampened paper towel over the top and microwave on medium for 1 minute. The carbonara will not be super creamy like it was when it was freshly made but it will still be delicious.
More Easy Italian Pasta Recipes!
Rigatoni Carbonara: A Quick And Easy Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb Rigatoni
- 5 Egg yolks
- 4 ounces Guanciale cubed
- 1 cup Pecorino Romano finely grated
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- kosher salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fill a pasta pot with water and bring to a boil for your pasta.
- While you wait for your pasta water to come to a boil, in a medium saute pan, add your olive oil and your pancetta and cook until the pancetta starts to lightly brown.1 tablespoon Olive oil, 4 ounces Guanciale
- Once your pancetta is finished cooking, remove it from the heat then pour into a small bowl and set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, add your egg yolks along with a pinch of salt and a lot of freshly ground black pepper.5 Egg yolks
- Set aside for now.
- Now your pasta water should be boiling, salt it well and add your rigatoni.1 lb Rigatoni
- Cook until al dente according to the instructions on your pasta box.
- Half way through the pasta cooking, take about ¼ cup of that water out and bring it over to your egg yolk mixture.
- Slowly whisk in that hot pasta water to lightly temper your egg yolks so they do not curdle later when added to your hot pasta.
- Now, scoop out another ¼ of your pasta water (in case you need it later) and drain your pasta.
- Pour your hot pasta into your large bowl with the egg yolks and quickly pour your pancetta mixture over the pasta and toss well.
- Toss for a few seconds letting the pasta drink up the sauce.
- Add ½ your cheese and toss again well.1 cup Pecorino Romano
- Now assess if you carbonara looks dry. It should look creamy.
- If the pasta seems too dry, add a little of that reserved pasta water and toss it again.
- Plate into individual bowls with your pasta and add a sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and freshly ground black pepper.kosher salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
Meg says
Thank you for sharing this recipe