Creamy Thermomix carbonara with pasteurized eggs

This is our home carbonara: Riccardo's recipe, designed to be good for everyone, young children and expectant mothers included. The trick is cooking the eggs in the bowl at a low temperature, so they stay creamy but pasteurized, never going near an open flame.

The extra touch is loosening the cream with a little warm pasta water before tossing it through: it makes everything more fluid and stable, without the risk of it splitting.

What "pasteurized" means here and why it matters

Traditional carbonara is made with raw eggs, cooked through by the heat of the pasta alone. It works, but the temperature reached is unpredictable: in some spots the egg stays essentially raw.

Here, instead, the eggs cook in the bowl at 85°C for 10 minutes, in a controlled and even way. It's the same logic as pasteurization: a high enough temperature, held long enough, drastically reduces the microbiological risk typical of raw eggs.

That's why this is the version I make without worrying for young children and for anyone in the family who is pregnant. That said, I'm not a doctor: if you have specific guidance from yours, follow it.

The extra practical benefit is that the cream is stable. You don't risk ending up with scrambled eggs at the last second, which is the classic carbonara nightmare.

Why the pancetta fat needs to cool first

It sounds like a fussy detail, but it isn't. The fat straight out of the pan is much hotter than 85°C: pouring it in boiling hot over the eggs in the bowl cooks them instantly and you end up with lumps before you've even started cooking properly.

Letting it cool for a few minutes fixes this. And never throw it away: it carries all the flavor of the pancetta, and it's what makes the cream tasty without adding anything else.

The pasta water: how much and how

An espresso cup, no more, and cooled slightly for the same reason as above. The starch released by the pasta is a natural binder: added a little at a time, it makes the cream fluid and velvety instead of thick and gluey.

Cook the pasta in lightly salted water: between the pecorino and the pancetta, the dish is already salty enough on its own.

Pancetta or guanciale?

Guanciale is the traditional Roman choice: fattier, more flavorful, melts better. Pancetta is easier to find and leaner, and it's what I usually use. Either works, the important thing is to slice it thin and get it really crisp: it's the only source of texture in an otherwise entirely creamy dish.

The most common mistakes

• Tossing it together over the heat: turn the pan off before combining pasta and cream. The residual heat is more than enough.
• Adding the cream all at once without loosening it first: it turns thick and grainy.
• Pecorino grated too coarsely: if it's not fine enough it won't melt and stays in little clumps.

Variations

• Pecorino and Parmesan, half and half, if you prefer a milder flavor.
• Zucchini carbonara: add sautéed zucchini rounds instead of (or alongside) the pancetta, as in the rice with salmon and zucchini.
• Long or short pasta: spaghetti for tradition, rigatoni if you like the cream to get inside the tube.

Storage

Carbonara is eaten right away, no exceptions: reheated, the cream splits and the pasta turns rubbery. If you really have leftovers, the next day you can turn it into a baked pasta frittata.