I was first introduced to this dish at Ristorante Lucca in Mill Valley where it was prepared perfectly with pancetta and fresh peas – lovely! You can also substitute Guanciale (pork jowl or cheeks) for the pancetta.
Fill a large saucepan with water (up to approximately 2/3 of its volume), cover and let it boil. When it comes to a boil, add some salt, but not too much be- cause the dish will be very tasty anyway.
Put the pasta into the boiling water and when it is ‘al dente‘, drain the water and put the pasta in the bowl and set aside “Al dente” means that the pasta should be moderately cooked. It should be firm but not too hard or too soft, in order to have a certain consistence when chewed.
In the meantime, dice the pancetta in small pieces and put it in a pan over me- dium heat. Add diced onions and olive oil. Sauté until onions become trans- parent and slightly crunchy then drain excess oil.
Return to heat and add a splash of white wine to deglaze then add cream and butter. Swirling the pan over medium heat let the cream reduce in to small bubbles. “about 3 minutes” Add fettuccine and mix thoroughly.
Mix up in a small bowl the egg yolk, pecorino cheese and the ground pepper. Then add it to the pasta stirring vigorously mixing in all ingredients.
Divide pasta on to 4 small plates and add a fried egg and pecorino cheese on top if desired.