Cut the pancetta into small pieces and sauté it in a small frying pan, with 3 spoonfuls of olive oil, until golden and crisp. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl. Add the grated pecorino, plenty of black pepper (if possible freshly ground), a pinch of salt and the now cold pieces of cooked pancetta with their juices, and mix well. Cook the pasta, then strain it (setting aside 4 or 5 spoonfuls of the cooking water). Very, very quickly mix it with the sauce in the bowl, adding some of the cooking water – now slightly cooled – and amalgamating everything thoroughly. Serve immediately and buon appetito!

With the heat of the pasta the egg tends to coagulate; the secret for a perfect Carbonara is to mix it with the sauce extremely quickly, to avoid the egg “cooking” and forming lumps.