Since my college days as an Italian major, I\u2019ve loved spaghetti carbonara. The ingredients\u2013eggs, Parmesan, bacon, and spaghetti\u2014are always on hand in my house, and nothing beats the speed of the dish. The egg sauce cooks in seconds when tossed with the hot pasta! That said, it\u2019s not exactly a square meal.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Bereft of any form of vegetable, I always feel a little sheepish about sitting down to a bowl of pasta carbonara all by itself. The decadent dish needs to have a green salad or other vegetable side dish alongside it to round out the richness, and that\u2019s not always something I have the energy for.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
A few years ago, after a trip to the first farmer\u2019s markets of spring, I hit upon an idea: Why not add veggies to carbonara for a pasta primavera-carbonara mash-up? I added a few handfuls of chopped asparagus and snap peas to the pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking and then proceeded with my usual carbonara recipe. Voila! I had a healthier bowl of an old favorite shot through with all the lovely flavors of spring.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve refined the recipe since that first \u201ca-ha\u201d batch, adding baby spinach at the end for more green and lemon zest for a little brightness, but the idea is the same and it couldn\u2019t be easier or more adaptable. It\u2019s now my second-most anticipated dish of Spring.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
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Simply Recipes \/ Ali Redmond<\/p>\n
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2 Quick Tips for Making My Spring Carbonara\u00a0 <\/span> <\/h2>\n\n
This dish comes together lightning-fast. Have all your ingredients prepped and within reach because once the spaghetti is done cooking, you\u2019ll use the heat of the pasta to cook the raw eggs to make a silky sauce.\u00a0<\/li>\n
I recommend finely grating your own Parmigiano Reggiano for this dish. The fine shreds melt seamlessly into the sauce, whereas pre-grated Parmesan leaves behind a pebbly texture.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Easy Tweaks <\/span> <\/h2>\n
I always use a 12 to 16-ounce bunch of asparagus as the primary vegetable because I cannot get enough of the grassy spears come spring. The rest of the veggies are super adaptable\u2013I\u2019ve used snow peas, snap peas, shelled English peas, peeled fava beans, tiny baby carrots, and even delicate morel mushrooms. Buy whatever seasonal veggies look good<\/strong> and cut them into pieces that will cook in the last 3 or so minutes with the spaghetti.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
I usually throw in a few cups of baby spinach while tossing the hot pasta with the eggs and bacon; it wilts in seconds once it hits the hot pasta. I have also used other spring greens like nettles, Swiss chard, or baby kale, but in those cases, I discard any tough stems and chop the greens. To make sure they are as tender as possible without becoming waterlogged, I saut\u00e9 them in the pan with the bacon. Most greens are done in just 3 minutes when cooked in hot bacon fat.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
I use thick-cut pepper bacon for my carbonara, but you can substitute diced pancetta if you prefer. The flavor of pancetta isn\u2019t smoky like bacon, so some purists prefer it. Since this recipe is decidedly inauthentic, I use easy-to-find bacon.\n<\/p>\n
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