How to make la carbonara alla romana --

Ingredients

Thinly slice about half an onion (I see many guides which use both garlic and onion or just the former - this is absolutely NOT the traditional recipe - in fact, originally onion was not even used)

Cut bacon down the middle long ways

Then into about 4 large pieces (or smaller if you prefer - after a few attempts with a knife, I realized that scissors were a simple, easy alternative!)

As such!

If you can't find real guanciale or pancetta, I suggest thick center cut bacon - find the pack with the least fat, if possible

Preheat pan then throw in bacon

Add onion after bacon is halfway cooked so it doesn't burn (like mine did!); or, as I said, you could even forget the onion if you're a real purist!

Isn't she glorious?! ( set aside for a later step ); you want your bacon to be semi-crisp but still retain its meatiness as we're not going for bacon and eggs here

So my husband had me cube the bacon to put into the blender - until the blender blade went flying and he had to go buy an emergency cheese grater

(This "cubing" is NOT suggested, unless you want to grate some of your finger and make your life more difficult, as I did...)

Crack eggs into bowl big enough to mix ingredients; whisk (1 1/2 per person is perfect for me, but play around with it, you'll find what works for you!)

Lots of pepper (Carbonara references the coal miners that originally ate the dish [for its economical ingredients] as well as the coal-like pepper) and pecorino whisked in

Even more pepper could be used; my pepper is abnormally strong for some reason; you could always add more later - with the cheese this should become somewhat of a paste (I used all of it :-*)

I used paccheri which are like gigantic rigatoni (which would be the norm in Rome, along with spaghetti); in pan first a splash of olive oil, then pasta al dente, then bacon

Then egg mixture and - this is important! - some of the water used to cook the pasta in (NOT cream) to make the egg mixture cook as a cream, not scrambled eggs!

This water has starch in it from the pasta which thickens the egg; I also used a beef buillion rather than salt which adds flavor to the cream you make - stir over med-low heat until it looks right!

Enjoy! The real, simple Carbonara as it's traditionally made: no cream, no garlic, no spices! (Warning: consuming raw or undercooked eggs may increase risk of foodborne illness, as always!)