Vegetarian-inspired Carbonara

This delicious pasta is inspired by the classic carbonara recipe I have here, but without the meat. I hate sacrificing flavour, and when I saw a take on this pasta in the latest Tesco magazine (if you ever come across them, be sure to pick one up. They are free and have great recipes!), I felt inspired. Not only is this pasta super yummy, its also very easy, requiring one bowl, a pan, and a chopping board, and it has veggies in it too.

Vegetarian-inspired Carbonara

Serves: 4

Ingredients 

• 500g dried wholemeal pasta (be sure to check the fibre and protein content and ensure it is high; some wholemeal is still low).

• 4 eggs

• 160g Parmigiano reggiano

• 6 tbsp single cream

• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 20g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 1 medium lemon, zested.

• 2 tbsp groudnut oil

• 1 1/2 courgettes, finely grated and squeezed to remove the water

• 3 spring thyme, leaves removed

• 1 red chilli, sliced

• 150g sun-blushed tomatoes, roughly chopped

• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly toasted

• 3/4tsp paprika

• 3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted, optional

• Black pepper and salt, to season

Method

1. Cook a large pot of heavily boiling pasta. While the water comes to a boil, heat the groundnut oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.

2. Once the oil is hot, add in the courgette, thyme leaves, chilli and 1 clove of the minced garlic. Stir and fry for 4 minutes or until the courgette appears half-cooked.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and cook on a medium-low heat for a further 2 minutes.

4. Stir in the fennel seeds and paprika. Take off the heat and set aside.

5. In a bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy. Season heavily with black pepper, and add in the cheese, parsley, lemon zest, cream, and remaining garlic.

6. Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain, ensuring that you save roughly 60 ml of pasta water, or a ladle of water.

7. Add the pasta to the pan with the courgette, and bring the pan back to a low heat. You want to ensure the egg does not scramble and slowly thicken around the pasta.

8. Pour in the cheese-egg sauce, half of the pasta water, and stir with a spoon.

9. Continuously stir until the sauce thickens and starts to cling to the pasta. The sauce should be smooth and creamy*

10. Serve with the optional toasted pine nuts and some chilli-garlic oil (optional but not really), and enjoy!!

    
    

    Notes -

    *If it starts to scramble, remove the pasta immediately from the heat and add a splash of cream or milk, then stir rigorously.

    **If the sauce thickens too quickly, add more pasta water to allow the sauce to blend better with the pasta.

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