Things to add to Carbonara Spaghetti?!

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OK, I'm going to give you the REAL Spaghetti Carbonara recipe. The Real one, not some experimentation in cooking that makes it only heavier and more messed up.

Ingredients per person
80 grams spaghetti cooked "al dente"
1 whole egg
1 spoon of grated pecorino romano (hard to find in the US, can be substituted with real Parmigiano Reggiano)
Guanciale ( type of bacon made with the cheek of the pork. Once again, hard to find, use non smoked bacon) -about a spoon cubed, more if you like.
a small pinch of salt
a sprinkle of black pepper

You should put the guanciale, in small cubes, in a frying pan, with just a drop of extra virgin olive oil and cook it until crispy. In a separate bowl mix eggs, pecorino salt and pepper. Drain the spaghetti and throw them in the pan with the guanciale for a minute or two, on a moderate flame. Add the egg mix and stir untill the egg has the right texture for you (do not overcook it: it should remain creamy).

Do not add cream, onions, garlic or any other stuff. Or, if you do, don't call it carbonara at all!

I'm Italian from Italy

Ham or bacon is a must. Don't put sweetcorn or any other nonsense as suggested by someone. It will not be Carbonara.

If you want to enliven the carbonara sauce you can use some chopped garlic and chopped shallot. I also add some white wine, and use ONLY egg yolks for the sauce. This adds a very special richness to the Carbonara. Here is the recipe I've used for years, which everyone loves. I got it off a USENET newsgroup many many years ago, when the internet was still in its infancy, and before the age of html web-browsing. I am reproducing it in full as it has the original writer's information about where the recipe originated. The original writer's name is not mentioned however. :

BIAGIO'S SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
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CARBONARA - Spaghetti carbonara, Neapolitan style

My wife and I had the pleasure of staying at the Villa Virgiliana (owned by The Vergilian Society) in Cuma, Italy just outside of Naples in June, 1985. Biagio and Maria Sgariglia, the proprietors of the villa, served us excellent Italian farm meals for a week, each meal being more delicious than the last. This dish was the gastronomic highlight of our stay.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 3 to 4 people)

1 pound thin spaghetti, rotini or equivalent pasta
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb pancetta or bacon
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup dry Italian white wine
4 eggs
4 Tbsp heavy cream
8 Tbsp parmesan cheese (grated)

PROCEDURE
(1) Put large bowl in oven to warm at lowest possible setting.

(2) Soak chopped onion in cold water for 15 minutes to reduce pungency.

(3) Chop Pancetta or bacon into 1/4-inchx1-inch strips.

(4) Beat eggs and cream together with a fork. Add 4 Tbsp parmesan cheese to the mixture.

(5) Wash pasta. Put on water to cook pasta. Add pasta when boiling. In the meantime...

(6) Dry onions and saut'e with pancetta or bacon in olive oil until onions are barely translucent.

(7) Add wine and reduce heat when initial boiling ceases. Meat should not be crisp.

(8) When pasta is cooked, drain, but do not wash.

(9) Quickly remove bowl from oven, put pasta in it and toss with egg, cream and cheese mixture so that heat from pasta cooks eggs.

(10) Add meat, onions and wine without draining fat and toss until thoroughly mixed.

(11) Sprinkle remaining cheese to taste, toss and serve immediately.

NOTES
Pasta should be cooked al dente so that it offers resistance to the teeth without crunching. Fresh pasta is desirable (dried pasta is a poor imitation of the real thing.) Pasta should be used immediately when done so as to stop its internal cooking. If both portions of the recipe cannot be completed at the same time, the meat and onion mixture should finish first.

All of the quantities are adjustable, and may depend on the kind of pasta or meat you use. Too much cream will cause the egg mixture to separate from the pasta and meat. Too little cream will essentially give you scrambled eggs and bacon with pasta.

I use this recipe all the time.

Try adding a little cream to your recipe for a full rich flavour, I've found it's best to keep it as simple as possible

chef

Ham or bacon always goes great with carbonara, if you don't have any then use chicken. And mushrooms. OR once i had it with sweetcorn which was quite interesting...
Yummy.

Mamma di Pino site suggests alian Pancetta Bacon or Guanciale Meat
http://mammadipino.com/?p=365

fresh cream