Spaghetti carbonara with broccoli
An interesting twist on an Italian classic!
Italians don't like it when foreigners meddle with their food. A few years ago a French-made video showing a carbonara style dish cooked up in one pan and made with (gasp) farfalle (amongst other unholy ingredients) almost caused a diplomatic incident between the two countries. The video went viral - with insults being traded in both languages - before it was eventually taken down. OTT? Maybe. Although it shows what a serious business food is for our European neighbours. More of that here, please!
My carbonara uses both broccoli and cream (sorry Antonio Carluccio), the latter ingredient ensuring the sauce is smooth and silky. It's totally delicious and quick to make. Here's hoping it doesn't spark a second 'Carbonaragate' 😉
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 50g Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, plus extra to serve
- 50 ml of double cream
- 320g spaghetti
- 175g broccoli, cut into small florets
- ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 100g smoked bacon, rind off and cut into small pieces
- 12 cherry or baby plum tomatoes, halved or quatered depending on their size
- Some salt and black pepper to taste
Method
- Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add in thecream and cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
- Cook the spaghetti until al dente (so it's slightly firm when bitten). This should take around 7-8 minutes for regular spaghetti or a bit longer for wholemeal. Cook the broccoli for around 5 minutes in the same pan.
- While the spaghetti and broccoli is cooking, fry the bacon in the olive oil until it begins to turn crispy.
- Once cooked, turn off the heat. Drain the spaghetti, saving about 50ml of the pasta water in a cup.
- Return the spaghetti to its pan and add in the bacon plus any juices. Stir well.
- Pour in the egg and cheese mixture, stirring continuously so that the eggs cook slightly in the heat of the spaghetti. Do not turn on the heat or the eggs will scramble. If necessary, you can add in some of the pasta water to achieve a smoother, silkier sauce.
- Serve immediately, topping with the cherry tomatoes and some extra Parmesan or Pecorino.
NB This recipe makes enough for 4 people, but if you save it to your MyMeals365 app, you can change the number of servings and the app will work out the exact quantities of each ingredient you need.