Description
This traditional spaghetti carbonara is rich, creamy, and made without cream. Featuring eggs, cheese, and crispy halal beef, it’s a comforting Italian-inspired dish ready in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 12 oz spaghetti
- 4 oz halal cured beef cheek or smoked beef, diced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain.
- While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced halal cured beef and cook for 5–7 minutes until crispy. Remove from heat, keeping the fat in the pan.
- In a bowl, whisk together eggs, Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, and a generous amount of black pepper until smooth.
- Add drained spaghetti to the skillet with the crispy beef. Toss to coat in the rendered fat.
- Remove pan from heat completely. Quickly pour in the egg and cheese mixture, tossing rapidly to form a creamy sauce.
- Add reserved pasta water a splash at a time to loosen the sauce until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately with extra cheese and black pepper on top if desired.
Notes
- Use only the residual heat of the pasta to cook the eggs to avoid scrambling.
- Reserve pasta water before draining to help emulsify the sauce.
- Spaghetti is classic, but linguine or bucatini work well too.
- Carbonara is best served fresh—leftovers may lose the creamy texture.
- For extra richness, replace one egg with two yolks.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 520
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 640mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 56g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 28g
- Cholesterol: 135mg
