Seafood carbonara is a tasty and creamy variant of carbonara pasta, typical of Roman cuisine, seasoned with eggs, guanciale, and Pecorino Romano cheese.
Guanciale is a type of Italian cured meat made from pig cheek and jowl. People often ask if it is possible to use bacon or pancetta instead to make carbonara. Obviously, everything is possible, but bacon and pancetta not only come from a different part of the animal, but they are also not cured like guanciale and surely don’t have the same depth in flavor so the final result will never be the same.
In this recipe we are keeping guanciale and eggs, adding smoked tuna, but leaving out Pecorino Romano because cheese usually doesn’t pair well with seafood, as the strong cheese flavor can overpower the seafood. Instead of cheese, we are using bottarga, a delicacy of salted, cured fish roe, typical of the grey mullet (like in this case) or bluefin tuna.
This is a rich and beautifully savory dish, reminiscent of carbonara but with the taste of the sea, and a little bit smoky.
Buon appetito!
Seafood Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti Adoro 500g
- 2 whole eggs
- 4 yolks
- 1 cup guanciale cut into long strips
- 2 cups smoked tuna cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 4 tablespoons bottarga grated
Instructions
- To prepare the seafood carbonara, start by boiling a large pot of salted water. Cut the guanciale into ¼ inch slices and then into ¼ inch strips.
- Pour the pieces of guanciale into a sauté pan and cook for about 10 to 12 minutes over low-medium heat, to render the fat and get it crispy. Once crispy, remove it from the pan and turn off the heat.
- Cut the smoked tuna into cubes (save a couple of tablespoons for garnish) and add it to the pan, off the heat, with the guanciale fat.
- Crack the 4 yolks and 2 whole eggs in a bowl.
- Chop the parsley and set aside.
- In the meantime, cook the spaghetti in boiling water until it is al dente.
- Strain the spaghetti very al dente, reserving one cup of the pasta water, and add the pasta to the pan. Add a few ladles of pasta water and mix continuously to create a sauce with the guanciale’s fat. Add all the crispy guanciale, but a couple of tablespoons to keep for garnish. Add the parsley.
- Remove from the heat and pour the whisked eggs into the pan. Stir quickly to combine to obtain the famous carbonara creamy sauce. If needed, you can add a little pasta water.
- Mix one last time and serve the spaghetti carbonara immediately, adding the rest of the tuna and guanciale to garnish and a pinch of black pepper.
