Spaghetti Carbonara

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Salt it lightly, as the guanciale and pecorino are both salty.

Cut the guanciale into batons about 1 cm thick. Put them in a large, cold frying pan, set over a medium-low heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fat has melted and the pieces are golden and crisp at the edges but still a little chewy. Take the pan off the heat and leave the guanciale in its fat.

Finely grate the pecorino. In a bowl, beat the whole eggs and yolks with the pecorino and the black pepper into a thick, speckled paste. There is no cream in a carbonara: the creaminess comes from the egg, the cheese and the starch in the pasta water.

Cook the spaghetti for 1 minute less than the packet time, so it is still firm in the centre. Before draining, scoop out a mugful (about 250 ml) of the cooking water.

Stir 2 tablespoons of the hot cooking water into the egg mixture to loosen it to the consistency of double cream.

Add the drained spaghetti to the guanciale pan, off the heat, and toss for 30 seconds so every strand is coated in the rendered fat. Let it stand for about 30 seconds more. The pan must be hot enough to keep the pasta warm but not so hot that it scrambles the eggs.

Pour the egg mixture over the pasta and toss quickly and constantly with tongs, adding the reserved water a tablespoon at a time. In about a minute the sauce will turn glossy and creamy and cling to the spaghetti. If it looks thin, keep tossing, as it thickens a little off the heat; if it tightens, add more water.

Serve at once in warm bowls, finished with a little extra pecorino and black pepper.