With the weather cooling down, I’ve been in the look out for comfort food. I’ve been in the lookout for a vegetarian carbonara recipe, with varying degrees of success. There was a Gilt kale recipe that I attempted and turned out to be disastrous, thought this great blog mastered it. There’s nothing more heart breaking than a failed dish for #Meatless Monday, not only do I have nothing to show for it, I ended up eating the sad rejected dish and hating the experience.
I’m glad to say this was not one of those failed moments. To me a great carbonara should have that classic combination of creamy egg and cheese sauce, tempered with a lovely salty crunchiness that usually comes from the bacon. This recipe from bon apetit is the closest vegetarian alternative I’ve managed to find and I love its simplicity as well.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 500g medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
- 340g s spaghetti
- 6 large fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces, divided
Instructions
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Heat oil in heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until pale golden, about 1 minute. Add zucchini and sauté until beginning to color, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat; discard garlic.
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Meanwhile, whisk eggs and Parmesan in large bowl to blend. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta; add to egg mixture and toss to coat (heat from pasta will cook eggs).
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Add zucchini mixture and half of basil to pasta; stir gently to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining basil and serve. Season with black pepper when serving.
mirgraphy 