For once, I am not at all inclined to try to outdo the Wikipedia entry:
That is all there is to it, really. You can skip the pork, if you like. The whole point is that you cook your favorite pasta, drain it, and, while it's still hot, you drop raw eggs into it. Pepper and bacon and - my favorite - sauteéd onions are just "icing." For me, pasta alla carbonara is one of those extremely satisfying dishes that you can make quickly with ingredients that are likely to be available without any planning: a box of pasta, one or two eggs, and salt.
The Food Network will hand-hold you through the recipe, if you like.
Recipes vary. All agree that cheese (parmesan, pecorino, or a combination), egg yolks (or whole eggs), cured fatty pork (guanciale usually preferred to pancetta) and black pepper are basic. The pork is fried in fat (olive oil or lard); a mixture of eggs, cheese, and butter or olive oil is combined with the hot pasta, cooking the eggs; the pork is then added to the pasta.
That is all there is to it, really. You can skip the pork, if you like. The whole point is that you cook your favorite pasta, drain it, and, while it's still hot, you drop raw eggs into it. Pepper and bacon and - my favorite - sauteéd onions are just "icing." For me, pasta alla carbonara is one of those extremely satisfying dishes that you can make quickly with ingredients that are likely to be available without any planning: a box of pasta, one or two eggs, and salt.The Food Network will hand-hold you through the recipe, if you like.