Fettucini Carbonara, by Guest Chef Skye

Well after leaving Laura's place, I was down in Italy for a week eating with an Italian family. The mom makes the best food. Her carbonara is really good so I thought I would try to make something similar to it with a little adaptation.

Normally this dish has some type of ham or bacon in it which makes it very tasty but it is still good without. It also contains egg which may be a no no depending on the kind of vegetarian you are. This is an adaption of this recipe, which was the first carbonara I made.

Vegetable Fettucini Carbonara

Ingredients:

1/2 large onion

2 cloves garlic

1-2 shallots

2 egg yolks

2 carrots

1/2 zucchini

1/4 cup cream

1/4-1/3 cup parmesan

1/4 cup frozen peas

250g fettucini pasta (half the package in the picture)

salt and pepper to taste

oil for cooking

1. Put on a big pot of salted water to boil. In the

mean time dice the shallots and garlic. Chop the

onion into half moon slices. Peel the skin off the zucchini and carrots then peel both into fine ribbons (see picture). I like to do this so they cook very quickly and they also blend in very well with the pasta. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, cream and parmesan together.

2. Once the water is boiling add in your pasta and cook until al dente. During this period, heat a fry pan on medium low. Saute the onion and shallot with some oil for 3-4 minutes until they are translucent. Now add the garlic and cook for another minute. Afterwards, add the peas, carrots and zucchini and cook until the carrots and zucchini are soft but still firm (~3-4 mins). Season with salt and pepper. While your are doing this keep checking your pasta until al dente. It should finish a little before the veggies are done. Drain it and let it stand for a few minutes to cool down.

3. Now to bring everything together. We let our pasta cool down in the previous step because if you add the parmesan sauce to hot noodles, the heat will curdle the egg yolks and you end with scrambled egg pasta (not very good). Turn off the fry pan burner and put the pot the pasta was in on it. Now add the veggies and pasta and mix well. Once mixed add the sauce and turn to coat. Keep mixing for a few minutes and the leftover heat from the burner will slowly cook the sauce and infuse it to the noodles. Check the seasoning again and add salt and pepper if needed. The noodles should turn out silky and a little heavy.

4. Serve with some garlic bread or salad and nice glass of vino. Perfect!

Hope you enjoy =)

Skye