The best spaghetti carbonara recipe

Carbonara is incredibly simple to conjure up, and it's a dish that's a hit with both adults and children. It's the kind of recipe you can serve for a date night or for the whole family with kids. 

TIP: Also try this recipe: mashed potatoes with Grana Padana

Ingredients for carbonara

You often see a carbonara sauce made with cream, but in our (and many Italian chefs') world, that's completely wrong. Carbonara should be made with a sauce of eggs and cheese, tossed in spaghetti with crispy cubes of fat, Italian ham. Top the dish with freshly ground pepper and even more freshly grated cheese, and you have a completely authentic carbonara. Here are the 5 ingredients used for the recipe: 

• Spaghetti: You will need classic spaghetti for this recipe. Both fresh and dried can be used.
• Egg: I use whole eggs instead of just egg yolks. This keeps the dish from being too fatty but still perfectly creamy.
• Bacon or pancetta: Traditionally, the ham "guanciale" is used, but since it is hard to get hold of, I choose bacon or Italian pancetta.
• Grana Padano: My favorite when it comes to hard Italian cheeses.
• Black pepper: Always use freshly ground! You should not add salt to anything other than the cooking water, as cheese and ham are salty.

TIP: Also try the recipe at risotto with mushrooms.

Carbonara with Grana Padano

Grana Padano is a perfect cheese to use in Italian cuisine and classics such as spaghetti carbonara. The firm cheese is easy to grate and has a fantastic taste. The unique taste is due to both carefully selected ingredients from the Pianura area Padana (Po River Valley in Northern Italy) as well as the traditional production. Every Grana Padano Wheels of cheese are aged for at least 9 months – sometimes more than 24 months – so it's a process that requires patience to produce the recognizable flavor and crumbly texture. 

TIP: Also try Grana Padano in these other recipes like bean dip or crispy chicken.

Tip: Prevent the carbonara sauce from separating

To prevent your carbonara sauce from separating and becoming grainy, we recommend the following:

• Whisk the cream cheese and eggs together in a bowl until creamy, so it can be easily added to the spaghetti at the same time. 
• Remove the pan from the heat when you add the egg-cheese mixture. It is very important that the heat is not too high, as this will cause the eggs to set too quickly. 
• Toss, toss, toss until the sauce is evenly distributed throughout the pasta. Don't stop until you're happy with the consistency, or the sauce will settle to the bottom of the pan.