Carbonara pasta is one of the typical dishes of our wonderful Rome, capital of Italy and its history.
It is made with a few ingredients, which make this recipe tasty and beloved by everyone, both in Italy and abroad.
The ingredients are:
- Pasta: mainly spaghetti, but also rigatoni and bucatini
- Eggs
- Guanciale or bacon
- Pecorino cheese
- Black pepper
Few simple ingredients are sufficient to make an excellent and super tasty dish.
History
The origin of this recipe – as well as the ones of other traditional recipes – is mysterious. In general, the main idea is that it was born in Italy, precisely in the region of Lazio.
According to some researchers and older Italians, carbonara is the child of “pasta cacio e uova”, which was born approximately in 1839. Probably this name was the official one until the Second World War. Pasta cacio e uova was cooked in a similar way to actual carbonara.
In fact, the name “carbonara” it is unrecorded before the Second World War. It appeared for the first time in the manual “La Cucina Romana” (Roman Cuisine) by the gastronomist and journalist Ada Boni in 1930.
Etymology of the name
There are three main hypotheses about the etymology of the name.
- The first hypothesis says that the name comes from carbonari, that is charcoal workers who needed a rich meal to have enough energy to work.
- The second one says that name was a tribute to the revolutionary society of Carbonari, a secret society which was popular in the early stages of Italian Unification at the beginning of the 19th century.
- The third hypothesis – the most probable – says that it comes from the famous restaurant La Carbonara in Rome.
The name “carbonara” was used for the first time in the Italian newspaper La Stampa, in which they described the dish as a Roman dish sought out by American officers after the Allied liberation of Rome in 1944.
It was a meal prepared with simple ingredients provided by American troops: bacon, eggs and pasta. The American soldiers initially referred to it as “spaghetti breakfast”, in fact eggs and bacon were their common snack and breakfast.
It is the main hypothesis regarding the origin of this much-loved dish.
So that is carbonara and its history! With Toscanità Instant you can taste this historical dish at all times and in any place. But above all it is quick and easy to cook.
Now let’s discover the original recipe!
Recipe
Cooking carbonara pasta isn’t as easy as it seems, especially the egg cream.
But don’t worry, now we explain you how to make the perfect carbonara sauce pasta. Let’s start!
First of all, we have to boil water. In the meantime, we choose the shape of pasta we prefer. Usually carbonara is made with spaghetti, but sometimes also with bucatini and rigatoni.
When the water boils, we can add pasta with a bit of salt. Now we have to wait until pasta is done. To cook it perfectly we have to follow the time suggested on its packaging.
Meanwhile, we lightly fry guanciale in a pan, without adding oil or butter, but using its own fat.
Then we prepare the egg cream carefully. We mix eggs (or only yolks), pecorino cheese and black pepper until we obtain a creamy texture.
Once pasta is cooked, we drain pasta and add guanciale and the egg cream in the hot pasta, but away from direct heat to avoid curdling the egg.
We mix all together and that’s it! Your carbonara is ready to be enjoyed!
With a cup of Toscanità Instant you save time and energies. Carbonara Sauce Pasta Cup encloses a delicious dish of carbonara ready to be cooked and tasted in only three minutes, everywhere and at any time!
So don’t worry to find the perfect recipe and don’t go crazy finding the right ingredients!
Toscanità Instant has already thought about it, looking for high-quality ingredients and balancing them perfectly for you.
