Tagliolini carbonara

Carbonara with fresh einkorn tagliolini. There's no cream: the sauce is egg yolks, cheese, the rendered pork fat and starchy pasta water, tossed off the heat until silky. Fresh pasta cooks in about a minute, so have everything ready before it goes in the water.

• Serves 4
• Active 20 min, plus making the pasta

Ingredients

• 1 batch fresh einkorn pasta (300 g flour), cut as tagliolini
• 150 g guanciale (or pancetta), cut into thin strips
• 4 egg yolks and 1 whole egg
• 60 g Pecorino Romano, finely grated, plus more to serve
• 30 g Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
• Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Beat the yolks, whole egg, both cheeses and a generous amount of pepper in a bowl to a thick paste.
2. Put the guanciale in a large, cold frying pan and cook it over medium-low heat for 8–10 minutes, until the fat has rendered and the strips are crisp at the edges. Take the pan off the heat.
3. Boil the pasta water, salted a little less than usual because the guanciale and pecorino are salty.
4. Cook the tagliolini for 1–1½ minutes. Lift them straight into the guanciale pan with tongs, bringing some water with them, and toss to coat them in the fat. Keep a mug of the cooking water.
5. Let the pan cool for 30 seconds off the heat, so the eggs won't scramble. Add the egg mixture and 3–4 tbsp of the pasta water and toss constantly. The sauce should turn creamy and coat every strand. Add more water a spoonful at a time if it's thick. If it's thin, put the pan over very low heat and keep tossing for a few seconds.
6. Serve straight away with more pecorino and pepper.