Claypot Carbonara
Adapted by Kyle Libramonte
Prep Time: 5 Min • Cook Time: 14 Min
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 8 oz thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into ¼-inch strips (traditional is guanciale; pancetta also works)
- 1 lb spaghetti
- About 5 cups water — enough to just barely cover the spaghetti in the pot, no more
- 3 large eggs plus 1 large yolk, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (about 4 oz) finely grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving (half Parmigiano-Reggiano if you want it milder)
- 1½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper, plus more for serving
- Kosher salt, to taste — go light, since the bacon and Pecorino are both already salty
Instructions:
- Whisk the Egg Base While the Pot is Still Cold: Whisk the eggs, extra yolk, cheese, and black pepper in a bowl until you have a thick, sandy paste, then set it on the counter — not in the fridge. Room-temperature eggs fold into the hot pasta without seizing, and getting this done first means you're never scrambling for it later. There's no window to prep once the pasta goes in.
- Render the Bacon on Sear/Sauté: Set the Claypot to Sear/Sauté, add the bacon to the cold pot, and let it come up with the pot. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fat has rendered out and the edges are crisp. Lift the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon and leave every bit of the fat behind — that fat is the backbone of the sauce, and the clay will keep it hot while the pasta cooks.
- Cook the Spaghetti on Pasta Mode with Just Enough Water: Lay the spaghetti in the pot, pour in only enough water to barely submerge it, and switch to Pasta mode. This is where the Claypot saves you the most time — no waiting on a full pot to boil, and almost nothing goes down the drain. Nearly all the water gets absorbed, so what's left behind is heavily starched: exactly the emulsifier a carbonara wants.
- Stir It, and Keep Stirring It: Stir every couple of minutes and scrape across the bottom each time. With this little water, the strands at the center will sit against hot clay and scorch if you walk away — this is the one step you can't leave alone. Cook 8 to 9 minutes, until the spaghetti is just shy of al dente. There should be a few tablespoons of cloudy, syrupy liquid left in the pot, not a bath.
- Kill the Heat, Then Add the Eggs: Turn the unit off completely and give the pot 30 seconds to settle. Pour in the egg and cheese mixture and toss hard and continuously with tongs — the residual heat in the clay is what cooks the eggs, and it's plenty. Add a splash of hot water a tablespoon at a time if it tightens up. Within a minute it will go from grainy to glossy and coat every strand.
- Fold in the Bacon and Serve from the Pot: Return the bacon, toss once more, and taste before you reach for salt. Set the pot onto the wooden trivet it came with — never a cold, wet, or stone surface, since a sudden temperature swing is what pure clay won't forgive. Shower with more Pecorino and pepper and get it to the table while it's loose. Carbonara waits for no one.
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