Spaghetti Carbonara

This recipe is so quick to prepare but it’s really important you do everything at the same time so it’s nice and hot when you serve it. In the main recipe I’ve included my take on a traditional carbonara but below I’ve also included a couple of variations which you can try if you want to either mix things up or bulk the recipe out further.

Variations

If you want to bulk this one out, you could always fry some finely chopped onion and sliced mushrooms once the bacon is crispy. No extra points but a bigger portion all round.

If you fancy mixing it up entirely you could replace the bacon with chorizo and once the oils have released, throw in some chopped spring onion. Up to 22g of chorizo will mean the dish is the same amount of smart points. Remember to peel the chorizo before you dice and cook so the oils can seep out and flavour everything nicely.

Making for a small person?

Fancy making it for a baby too? Make the adults sauce base (egg yolk, parmesan and cream cheese) in one bowl and in a separate bowl make a mini version which omits the egg (ideally using full fat cream cheese and parmesan). Make the rest of the recipe as below, just remember not to add salt to anything (I would probably cook the pastas separately too so you can salt the adults pasta water). Once the pasta and peas are cooked, take a little of the bacon mixture from the main pan, pop it in a smaller pan and then separate the pasta and peas into the two different pans adding the relevant sauce. Season the adults with salt and pepper to taste (and crushed chillies if you like a kick like me)!

Smart Points and Nutritional Information

Serves 2 – Per Serving:

11sp on BLUE, 15sp on GREEN and 6sp on PURPLE (when made with wholewheat pasta)
322 Cals – 14.1g Fat – 27.4g Carbs 25.8g Protein

Ingredients

120g spaghetti, dried

30g garden peas, frozen

4 rashers of back bacon (smoked or unsmoked, fat removed and diced into 1cm chunks)

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

3 egg yolks

40g parmesan, grated

50g lightest cream cheese

Handful of basil/parsley, finely chopped

Method

Pop a large pan of boiling water on a high heat and add 1 tsp of salt.

Take a small bowl and add the egg yolks. Whisk and then add the parmesan and cream cheese. Season with black pepper and then whisk again until you have a smooth mixture.

Next pop the pasta in the pan to cook and add the peas for the last 2-3 minutes.

Whilst the pasta and peas are cooking, spray a frying pan with 1kal and once hot, add the bacon. Fry the bacon for a few minutes and once it’s starting to crisp up, add the garlic (with a little splash of water if the pan is getting a little dry). Fry for another few minutes until the garlic softens and then reduce the heat to low.

Once the pasta is cooked, lift it out the water with tongs (rather than draining it) and pop it straight into the pan with the bacon. Use a slotted spoon to lift out any remaining peas and pop them into the bacon pan too. You want a little bit of the pasta water to splash in to the bacon pan to help the sauce stick to the pasta. Stir to combine and then switch off the heat. Next, pour the sauce mixture into the spaghetti/bacon pan with everything else and stir together with the pasta quickly so the sauce becomes nice and smooth (if it’s on the heat, the eggs could scramble so make sure its off!!) If the sauce is still a little thick, you can add an extra splash of the pasta water to loosen it up.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Finish with a sprinkle of basil/parsley and a little extra parmesan if you fancy.

Enjoy!

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