Pasta Carbonara

The key here is fat. Pork fat. Guanciale fat, but in a pinch, bacon fat will work just as well.

Ok, the second key is preparation. Read the recipe, and get everything set up before you get started. This is one of those recipes where, when all the pieces come together it's magic, but ... "when all the pieces come together" is carrying a lot of water here 😔.  It's really like riding a bike, once you figure it out, it's obvious, but till then, oh so many falls...

Anyhow, here we go - this recipe serves 2-4 people depending on how much you eat 😜

Get your pasta-water started. About half the amount of water that you'd normally use, along with a hefty dose of salt.  You're reducing the water, because you'll be using some of the - starchy starchy! - water later!

Dice up 6 strips of bacon (or an equivalent amount of guanciale), and place in a pan. Cook on medium till all the fat has rendered, and the bacon is crisp and brown. Do not eat the bacon right now! Take off the heat, but leave it all in the pan.

While the bacon is cooking, beat 2 large eggs in a bowl.  Pop it in the microwave on high for 10 seconds, then whisk again. Pop it back in the microwave for another 10 seconds.  What you're basically doing is getting it heated up, and oh so slightly cooked.  Mind you, if it actually gets cooked you left it in too long!

Grate a pretty decent quantity of pecorino (romano, duro, paglierino, whatever), or, if you so desire, parmigiana. What's "a decent quantity"? Maybe 2-3 handfuls after grating? This is really a "to-taste" kinda thing, and you can't really go wrong if you have too much in it 😇

Add the pecorino to the eggs, and whisk the whole thing together for around 10 seconds. Add a touch of salt to the eggs. Not too much, because the cheese and bacon have their own salt.  Here is an area that you're really going to have to figure out for yourself, so start small - you can always add salt later!

When the bacon is a couple of minutes away from being done, add pasta to the water. You can use spaghetti, linguine, bucatini, or your favorite long pasta.  Apparently you can use short pasta too - haven't tried that myself...

When the pasta is 1 minute away from slightly underdone - not al dente! even more under-done! 1 minute later, it will be underdone, and then, maybe 2 minutes later, al dente! - put the bacon back on medium heat. it should be sizzling by the time you get to the next step.

When the pasta is slightly underdone - again, 1 minute away from al dente - transfer the pasta to the pan with the bacon, and start mixing till it's all coated with the awesomely unctuous bacon fat.
Note

• Do not drain the pasta, transfer it with tongs or whatever. You want some of the water to transfer over!
• As you're mixing, you might want to add some more of the starchy starchy pasta water to the pasta to help it cook some more

Ideally, in about a minute, the pasta will have cooked in the pan right up to the point that it is al dente, and will also be coated all over with the bacon fat, and still have a little bit of water. If the water is all gone, then the pasta is probably too hot, and when you add the eggs in the next step, they'll turn into scrambled eggs!

Take the pan off the heat, pour in the beaten eggs, and mix well. If you do this correctly (note the bit about water in the previous step), now have pasta coated with a delicious emulsion of oil, cheese, pasta water, and eggs, and the whole thing will be, seriously, delicious 😋

Eat immediately. Like, immediately. Make sure that your table is already set - transfer into bowls and EAT IMMEDIATELY.