Light Pasta Carbonara
This healthy carbonara pasta is just as good as the best versions you've had, it just has less added fat without skimping on flavor or creaminess. Not only is this carbonara recipe healthy and delicious, it can be made in just about 15 minutes.
Servings 1 person
Equipment
- Medium Pot
- Sautee pan
- Small bowl
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- tongs
Ingredients
- 1 slice Prosciutto
- 1 Egg at room temperature
- ⅛ cup Grated Parmesan cheese + extra for garnish
- ¼ pound Whole wheat spaghetti
- ¼ cup Frozen peas thawed
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice + zest from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon Extra virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat up large frying pan, add 1 slice of prosciutto and cook until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes). Slice prosciutto into bite sized pieces once cooked. (swap with bacon, lunchmeat ham, ham, or omit completely if you don't have prosciutto on hand)
- While prosciutto is cooking, boil ¼ lb pasta, according to cooking instructions. Cook until al-dente. Add ¼ c frozen peas to pot with ~1 minute remaining in cook time.
- While pasta and prosciutto are cooking, crack 1 egg into a small bowl, add ⅛ c grated parmesan cheese and 1 tsp lemon juice to eggs, whisk together. Set aside.
- Drain pasta, but save ~1 cup of pasta water to add back to thicken pasta.
- Add hot pasta and prosciutto back to frying pan (but make sure heat is off). Drizzle with olive oil, ½ of pasta water. Pour egg and cheese mixture over pasta. Toss until well combined.
- Add remaining pasta water to desired thickness, you may want to turn heating element back on to low for this.
- Enjoy when hot, top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, freshly ground pepper, and a poached or fried egg for a protein boost.
Notes
- You can use fresh peas too if they're available, but frozen cook up well and are less expensive.
- (swap with bacon, lunchmeat ham, ham, or omit completely if you don't have prosciutto on hand)
- Add peas directly to pasta to save a dish & time.
- Note that consuming raw/undercooked eggs can be unsafe for people with compromised immune systems. So be careful or buy pasteurized egg products in the carton.
- Use the starchy pasta water to thicken the pasta sauce. It makes the sauce really creamy and delicious.
- Let pasta cool slightly. Too hot pasta/pasta water could curdle the egg mixture.
- Poach or fry an additional egg for a higher protein pasta.
- This pasta pairs well with a crisp green salad.
- Adapted from Ian Fisher from the New York Times Cooking