Beautiful courgette carbonara
Carbonara is a classic pasta sauce made with cream, bacon and Parmesan and is absolutely delicious. Try to buy the best ingredients you can, as that's what really helps to make this dish amazing. I'm using a flowering variety of thyme but normal thyme is fine to use. When it comes to the type of pasta, you can serve carbonara with spaghetti or linguine, but I've been told by Italian mammas (who I don't argue with!) that penne is the original, so that's what I'm using in this recipe. Before you start cooking, it's important to get yourself a very large pan, or use a high-sided roasting tray so you can give the pasta a good toss.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 8 of 9 ingredients — the other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 8 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Parmesan Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 110 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Bacon | 1 slice cooked (8g) | 43 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Thyme | 1 tsp dried (1.4g) | 4 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Flower | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 6 medium green and yellow courgettes
- 500 g penne
- 4 large free-range egg yolks
- 100 ml single cream
- 1 small handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- olive oil
- 6 slices higher-welfare back bacon, cut into chunky lardons
- 1 small bunch fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped, flowers reserved (if you can get hold of flowering thyme)
- a few courgette flowers, optional