The Sweet Spice Giada De Laurentiis Uses For Carbonara Sauce

Giada De Laurentiis is an Italian-American chef best known as being "the" leading Italian TV cooking show host for nearly two decades. With a couple of Emmy Awards, several New York Times bestselling cookbooks, and more than a handful of cooking shows, it's safe to say that she has taught many generations of viewers what Italian food, cooking, and culture really is — and that's just scraping the surface. All things considered, when De Laurentiis tells us to put cinnamon in a carbonara sauce, we just do it.

An authentic Italian carbonara is made with a long pasta (typically spaghetti, though linguine, fettuccine, and bucatini are also acceptable), raw beaten eggs, pecorino romano cheese, cured pork (preferably guanciale or pancetta), and freshly cracked black pepper. In the case of De Laurentiis' Cinnamon-Pancetta Carbonara recipe, a few sprinkles of American fusion come in the form of using half bacon and half pancetta, employing cream for extra richness, using only egg yolks instead of full eggs, swapping in parmesan cheese (it's easier to find in the U.S. than pecorino romano), reaching for fettuccine (a thicker, wider pasta), tossing in chopped chives, and last but certainly not least, dashing in a skosh of ground cinnamon. The Pasta Queen might not approve of the cured meats in this carbonara, but who are we to question De Laurentiis?

As with adding cinnamon to any recipe, sweet or savory, the spice brings a nice balance of warming flavor, and this is exactly why De Laurentiis includes it in her carbonara sauce. The real kicker, though, is when it's added in the recipe.

Pasta carbonara has been known to tear people apart, but hey, trying new things can be fun — and sometimes those things include unexpected spices. Although Giada De Laurentiis' recipe only calls for 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, it's important that this spice makes it into the frying pan with the pancetta and bacon — sprinkling it on top of the dish once it's finished won't deliver anywhere near the same results. Once the fat from the pork begins to melt away and sizzle, you'll want to add the cinnamon. According to De Laurentiis, this is the opportune time because the pork soaks up the cinnamon as its fat renders out. As a bonus, when spices like cinnamon are heated, they become more potent, therefore adding an extra depth of flavor to the dish.

Once the cinnamon has been absorbed, you'll now build the rest of carbonara sauce from this flavorful base of rendered cured meat and cinnamon. De Laurentiis' spin on a classic spaghetti carbonara, which is made with a few minor enhancements to the dish's traditional ingredients, will yield an ultra-rich pasta-eating experience. As De Laurentiis told the crowd at a 2007 Food & Wine cooking demo, this dish is so luscious and delicious that "you will dream about it. That's how good it is." 

Now, if you enjoyed this recipe from everyone's favorite Food Network diva, then you'll also love Giada De Laurentiis' sheet pan technique for crispy lasagna edges.