Better than Carbonara
I love spaghetti carbonara but the traditional way of cooking it is soooooo full of fat and rather devoid of any good quality nutrition. This is a slight adaptation of a Jamie Oliver recipe and I absolutely adore it! It is still deliciously creamy but with a fraction of the fat content, heaps more flavour and you are nourishing your body by eating it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Preparation time 10 minutes. Cooking time 20 minutes.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
- 8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
- 400g of frozen peas
- 2 tbsp flaked almonds
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves
- 30g of finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Juice of one large lemon
- 300g wholewheat spaghetti
- 2 free-range eggs
- 200g natural yogurt
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Finely slice the bacon and fry slowly in a frying pan with a good pinch of black pepper
- Meanwhile, put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Once the water is boiling dunk a sieve containing the peas into the water for 30-60 seconds then remove and set aside, leaving the water boiling
- Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions and while the pasta is cooking:
- blitz the almonds in a food processor then add the garlic, basil leaves, Parmesan, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper
- Blitz until well combined then add the peas and pulse until well mixed but so that the peas keep a bit of texture
- Once the bacon is golden and crispy, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place onto some kitchen paper to soak up the excess fat
- Pour most of the remaining fat out of the frying pan then put the pan on a low heat and add 3/4 of the pea mixture and 3/4 of the bacon, stirring to heat through
- Whisk together the egg and yogurt
- Once the pasta is cooked drain it and toss it into the pea pan mixing well
- Remove the pan from the heat then stir in the egg mixture
- Serve immediately, topped with the remaining pea mixture and crispy bacon