Spaghetti Carbonara

Carbonara is one of my absolute favorite Italian sauces. It gives you the creamy texture of a milk based sauces without all the calories and bloat of that extra lactose. Carbonara is an egg based sauce that is traditionally cooked with pancetta, but can be made to fit your needs. My favorite substitute for meat is asparagus in the recipe, or no addition at all (usually when I have run out of things in my fridge!) Follow the recipe below to make a lot or a little of one of the most satisfying cheese sauces out there!

Serves: 4
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 Large Eggs, 1 Large Yolk

• 1/3 cup of grated Pecorino Romano Cheese

• 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan

• 3 Ounces of Pancetta or 10 chopped stalks asparagus or both

• 3 cloves of Garlic

• Olive Oil

• Ground Black Pepper

• 12 ounces of Spaghetti or Fettuccine (I use whole wheat Barilla pastas)

Recipe:

1. Bring two pots of water to a boil. One pot, salt generously, and make sure you have enough water to cook pasta.

2. Fill a large mixing bowl with the one pot of boiling water (not the salted one) and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, both cheeses and a generous amount of garlic.

4. While pasta cooks: In a large frying pan, add olive oil, and garlic. Saute until garlic is translucent.

5. Add pancetta, asparagus, both, or none to the oil and garlic.

   1. If pancetta, cook until almost crispy and not hard.

   2. If asparagus, cook until bright green and crunchy.

   3. If neither, turn off heat when garlic is cooked, try not to burn!

6. Turn off heat on frying pan and set aside.

7. Add pasta to salted water and cook until al dente. Reserve one cup of water for later.

8. Reheat oil in frying pan. Drain pasta and add to oil. Toss for a few minutes until olive oil, pasta, and ingredients are well mixed.

9. Empty the first bowl with the hot water and dry.

10. Add pasta to the hot bowl and mix in the cheese mixture.

11. Add reserved water and ground pepper as needed.

12. Serve hot and Enjoy!

Tips

• Because this is an egg sauce, it is important to heat the sauce without created scrambled eggs. The warm bowl will allow for this. Make sure to add the eggs to the pasta and stir well.

• Add extra Parmesan on top for garnish or a bit more cheese!

• You can also play with the whole egg : yolk ratio to get the consistency you prefer

• If you are going to reheat: Add pasta to a pan and add water. Cook on low heat and stir frequently, otherwise you'll get scrambled egg pasta!