Carbonara Pizza Recipe

Preheat and prepare dough

Preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C) with a pizza stone or steel in place for at least 30 minutes. Lightly dust a work surface with 1/4 cup flour. Stretch or roll the pizza dough into a 10–12 inch (25–30 cm) round, leaving a slightly thicker rim. Transfer the stretched dough to a parchment sheet or well-floured peel. Brush the rim lightly with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Cook guanciale

While the oven is heating, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced guanciale and render slowly until the pieces are crisp and golden and fat has mostly rendered, about 6–8 minutes. Reduce heat if browning too fast. Remove from heat and reserve the rendered fat in the skillet; keep guanciale pieces on a plate lined with paper towel.

Boil spaghetti

Bring 1.5 liters (1500 ml) of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon coarse salt. Break the 80 g spaghetti in half and cook to very firm al dente — about 7 minutes (slightly under the package time) because it will finish cooking on the pizza. Reserve 120 ml (about 1/2 cup) of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.

Combine pasta with guanciale fat

Return the skillet with the reserved guanciale fat to low heat. Add the drained, very-al-dente spaghetti to the skillet and toss for 30–60 seconds to coat in the fat and warm through. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for about 1–2 minutes (so it won't scramble the eggs).

Prepare carbonara sauce

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 egg yolks, 1 whole egg (if using), 60 g finely grated Pecorino Romano, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper until smooth. Temper the egg mixture by whisking in 1–2 tablespoons of the warm pasta (or reserved pasta water) until slightly cooled and creamy. Pour the tempered egg-cheese mixture over the warm spaghetti and toss vigorously to create a glossy emulsified sauce; add up to 40–60 ml reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce. The spaghetti should be coated but not soupy.

Assemble pizza

Spread the sauced spaghetti evenly across the stretched dough, leaving the outer rim free. Distribute the crisp guanciale pieces across the top. Scatter 120 g torn Fior di Latte and 80 g shredded mozzarella over the spaghetti, pressing slightly to adhere. If needed, sprinkle an extra 10 g Pecorino Romano over the top and a pinch more black pepper.

Bake

Slide the pizza (on parchment or peel) onto the preheated stone/steel. Bake at 500°F (260°C) for 7–10 minutes until the crust is blistered and golden and the cheeses are melted and bubbling. Rotate halfway for even browning.

Finish & serve

Remove pizza from oven. Allow to cool for 1 minute. If desired, create two shallow wells in the center of the spaghetti and carefully place the 2 reserved egg yolks (or one yolk per serving) raw on top — the residual heat will warm them but keep them runny; alternatively, omit raw yolks for safety and use soft-poached yolks. Garnish with fresh basil leaves if using and an extra crack of black pepper and Pecorino. Slice and serve immediately.