Zucchini Noodle & Spaghetti "Carbonara" | Great way to get the kids eating more vegetables | Flexitarian Series
Posted: Apr 21 2020
This is not a traditional carbonara but rather a beautiful pasta, chalked full of veggies and tossed in a carbonara style sauce. We do not have bacon in the house very often but we love this recipe as just a few slices goes a long way. The zucchini noodles are a great addition as they mix so well with the spaghetti and are a great way to get kids to eat more veggies.
We have a number of different spiralizer/noodle makers and any would work but this one is our favourite for this dish. It is small to store, quick to use and make noodles the perfect size for spaghetti. Thank you Sherry Strong for gifting us ours.
Hope you enjoy our quick and delicious take on spaghetti carbonara!
ZUCCHINI NOODLE & SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
serves 4
cook time - 30 minutes
Ingredients
4 slices bacon or pancetta
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium (400g) yellow or green zucchini
4 sprigs thyme leaves (optional)
4 eggs yolks
1/2 cup parmesan, grated + 1/4 cup for garnish
400g spaghetti
2 cups frozen or fresh peas
2 handfuls arugula or baby spinach
1 lemon
salt
pepper
red chili flakes (optional)
Method
Bring a large pot of water to boil adding a heaping tbsp of salt.
Slice the bacon into small strips. Use a spiralizer or julienne slicer to make the zucchini noodles. Pick the thyme leaves and set aside.
Make the sauce by separating the egg yolks saving the whites for another dish. Place the yolks into a bowl, whisk with a 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp of salt and some freshly cracked black pepper.
Heat a large pan or pot on medium heat for the bacon.
Add spaghetti to the pot of boiling water and cook according to instructions on the box.
With 5 minutes left of the pasta, add a small splash of olive oil to the pan and once hot add the bacon and cook until crispy.
With 3 minutes left on the pasta, add the peas to the boiling water *note that if using frozen peas, the cooking time of the pasta will change a little because the peas are frozen. Put the lid back on to help it get back to the boil faster but watch it closely so it doesn’t overflow. Make sure to taste the pasta making sure it is al dente before straining. Use a coffee mug to scoop out some pasta water just before the pasta is ready and set aside.
With 2 minutes left on the pasta, add the zucchini noodles and thyme leaves to the bacon and saute until softened slightly.
Strain the pasta and peas and put back into the same pot. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the bacon, zucchini, thyme and all the delicious oil into the pasta pot and top with the carbonara sauce. Stir in a little of the starchy pasta water until it’s a silky consistency. Off the heat, the pasta will warm the sauce and ensure you don’t scramble the eggs. Season to taste.
To plate, add pasta to bowls, top with arugula, a squeeze of lemon and garnish with more grated parmesan, Maldon salt, freshly cracked pepper and red chili flakes if you like a bit of a kick.
Comments