Gluten Free Carbonara
Carbonara is one of the simplest pasta dishes to make and contains very few ingredients. This Carbonara is perfect for a weeknight meal and can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- Gluten free spaghetti dried or homemade
- 70g Guanciale or pancetta chunks
- 2 Garlic
- 1 Shallot
- Large handful of pecorino
- 1 Whole egg + 1egg yolk
- Salt and Pepper
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and if you are using dries pasta add it to the pot once the water is boiling. If you are using fresh pasta add it to the pot when you add your shallots to the frying pan (cook for 2-3 minutes)
- Finely dice your shallot and garlic. If you have a fine grater, use this for the garlic.
- Using a fine grater grate your cheese and beat it up in a mug with your egg and some pepper.
- Add your pancetta chunks to a dry pan and fry regularly moving on a medium heat.
- Once the pancetta has developed some browning on the fat and you add in your diced shallot and fry for 1-2. Once the shallots are softened add your garlic and fry for 30 seconds-1 minute while stirring.
- Now break the fry by adding some of your salted pasta water along with the pasta.
- Take off the heat, pour in your egg and cheese mixture and stir vigorously to emulsify the sauce.
- Twist the pasta on to your tongs and plate in the centre of a pasta bowl. Finish with a grating of pecorino and cracked black pepper.
About This Recipe
Carbonara is such a simple and delicious dish. It is silky and creamy without the need for any milk or cream; in fact, the use of cream in a carbonara is a crime! The emulsification of the fat from the guanciale, the egg, pecorino and pasta water together are enough to create the creaminess of a carbonara that we all know and love.
Being such a simple dish, the quality of the ingredients you use really are essential. You could get away with using bacon instead of guanciale or grana padano instead of pecorino; however, if you want to make your dish shine, use the best ingredients you can! A good quality pecorino and guanciale will elevate your dish significantly.
As well as using the correct ingredients and good quality ingredients, there is one simple ingredient that you CANNOT forget! Pasta water is the secret ingredient to most pasta dishes. It really does give you a silky sauced that grips to your pasta.
You definitely need to make this gluten free carbonara! It is so simple and perfect for a weeknight meal. It can be whipped up in as little as 15 minutes, plus the whole family will love it!
FAQs
Question: Why is my carbonara lumpy?
- If your carbonara is lumpy you have scrambled the egg likely meaning your pan is too hot or you need to agitate your pasta more vigorously. Make sure what your pan is off the heat when you add the egg and cheese, you do not want the heat of the pan to cook the egg but the residual heat from the pasta to.
Question: Why is my carbonara runny?
- This likely means that you have added too much pasta water. However, don’t worry. You can try adding in an extra egg yolk or whole egg, this will help to thicken it up. If it really doesn’t seem to be thickening as a very last resort, you can add a little bit of a cornflour slurry, though I would avoid this if you can.
If you have any more questions feel free to email me them at loveglutenfree.kitchen@outlook.com
Love Gluten Free
Hey! I’m Caroline, I love baking and cooking and finding new ingredients to create better gluten free alternatives. In 2015 I found out I had coeliac and since then it has been my mission to find great ways to make gluten free food better.
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Love Gluten Free 