carbonara
Noun A rich, creamy pasta sauce originating from Italian cuisine, traditionally made with eggs, cured pork (such as guanciale, pancetta, or bacon), grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and black pepper. The sauce is typically combined with hot pasta off the heat, where the residual heat cooks the eggs into a silky coating.
"Carbonara" refers specifically to the sauce itself and, by extension, to the pasta dish prepared with this sauce. It is an uncountable noun when referring to the sauce and a countable noun when referring to a serving of the dish. * The classic recipe for carbonara uses guanciale and Pecorino Romano. * I would like to order the spaghetti carbonara. * This restaurant makes the best carbonara in the city.
- She learned to make authentic carbonara during her trip to Rome.
- The key to a perfect carbonara is to temper the eggs with the hot pasta water to avoid scrambling them.
- For dinner, we had a simple carbonara and a green salad.
- "alla carbonara": An Italian adverbial phrase meaning "in the style of carbonara," often used in menu descriptions.
- Spaghetti alla carbonara is a staple of Roman trattorias.
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara / Pasta alla Carbonara: The full names for the dish, specifying the pasta used with the carbonara sauce.
- Pasta sauce: A general term; "carbonara" specifies a particular type.
- Cream sauce (informal, though inaccurate): Often used descriptively, though traditional carbonara contains no cream.
A common error is adding cream to the sauce. Authentic carbonara does not contain cream; its creaminess comes solely from the emulsion of eggs, cheese, pasta water, and fat from the pork.
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sauce for pasta; contains eggs and bacon or ham and grated cheese
