Zucchetti carbonara

Did you think creamy pasta was a thing of the past? Not with this tasty dish! It’s a really quick, easy and delicious dish starring the versatile zucchini, and the more herbs you add, the better. A note about the egg yolks: as well as adding some top-quality protein, they’re there to thicken up the sauce. Just be careful not to let them cook for too long, otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled egg carbonara – not ideal!

For the zucchetti:

4 zucchinis

2 Tbsp olive oil

For the cabonara sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

4–5 rashers smoked bacon (streaky works best),

thinly sliced (optional)

1 punnet (250 g) mushrooms, sliced

1 cup cream

¼ cup white wine or

chicken or vegetable stock

2 egg yolks

Small bunch of chives, parsley or tarragon, roughly chopped

to serve:

Parmesan shavings

Extra virgin olive oil

1. Cut the zucchini with a vegetable peeler or with a spiralizer into noodles. Set aside.

2. Start making the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion with a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, for 2–3 minutes until starting to soften but not colour. Add the garlic, bacon and mushrooms, and continue to cook for about 3 minutes until everything has softened. Stir in the cream and the wine
or stock. Turn the heat down to low.

3. Grab another medium to large frying pan (or a large saucepan), place it over a high heat and quickly fry the zucchetti in the olive oil for 1 minute. Set aside in the pan to keep warm.

4. Bring the carbonara sauce just up to the boil, remove from the heat and immediately stir through the egg yolks. Continue stirring continuously until the yolks are thoroughly mixed through the sauce. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir through the chopped herbs.

5. To serve, make a small mound of zucchetti in wide serving bowls. Spoon over the carbonara sauce, then top with Parmesan shavings, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some cracked black pepper.

Vegetarian option: Cook the vegetables without the bacon until softened, then stir in the cream, wine or stock, and ½ cup grated cheese. Cook the zucchetti, then bring the sauce just up to the boil, stirring constantly to ensure that the cheese has melted, then remove from the heat and add the egg yolks.

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