Ingredients for 4 people:350 g spaghetti alla chitarra4 egg yolk120 g cured ham (not smoked), in just 2 slices2 tbsp pecorino cheese3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil salt and pepper
Cut the ham into small pieces and sauté it in a frying pan, with 3 spoonfuls of olive oil, until nicely browned and crispy; then turn off the heat and leave to cool. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and mix them with the pecorino, plenty of black pepper (better still if freshly ground), a pinch of salt and the pieces of ham, now cold, with their juices. Cook the pasta, strain it (setting aside 4-5 spoonfuls of the water it as cooked in). Very, very quickly mix it with the sauce in the bowl, adding the water – which has now cooled slightly – to thin the sauce and amalgamate it better with the pasta.
Serve immediately and buon appetito!
With the heat of the pasta the egg tends to coagulate: the secret of a perfect Carbonara is to mix it with the sauce very quickly, to avoid the egg “cooking” and forming lumps.