This is a lovely imitation of a beloved meal turned into a carb-free dish! Plentiful, nonetheless, this zoodle or zucchini pasta will melt your heart! It is so simple to pull together; all you’ll need is cream, an egg yolk, sweet peas, parmesan and crisp bacon bits!
Those Zoodle Carbonara with sweet peas are great with any creamy sauce, and why not give it a touch of crunch with the bacon bits? Carbonara sauce can be made the traditional way, which is without cream, just eggs, bacon, parmesan, and oil, or the sinful way, which involves cream. Since those zoodles are so healthy and light, let’s make the sauce the sinful way, should we?
What is Zoodles?
Zoodles is basically making spaghetti with zucchini, or courgette, they say, in Europe. Formed by sliding the veggie lengthwise on a cheese grater, a julienne mandoline or a spiralizer. The zucchini is simply stir-fried for a minute or two to warm up, and the rest is all in the sauce. You can make them as a side dish or main course; they go nicely with any protein, like chicken, fish, or even meatballs—a sensational way to replace pasta in Keto, Paleo and low-carb diets.
A Great Carb-Free Alternative
Zoodles had a super popular period, although, nowadays, it has faded away. Even though more and more people choose to stay away from carbs or gluten nowadays, so I strongly believe those zoodles should be here to stay. The trick to having a nice plate is not to overcook your zucchini! They need to still have a little crunch to them; this way, you are making sure they still have room to suck all that lovely sauce that comes with it!
Carbonara Variations
As we know it, the original Carbonara doesn’t contain any cream. However, half the planet puts cream in there, so let’s call it ‘creamy Carbonara.’ The cream is needed in this dish because it needs some substance. Meat-wise, you can substitute the bacon bits with cured ham or pancetta. As for the cheese, the authentic Pecorino Regiano would be the cheese in here, but most households just have parmesan, not the powder one, and not pre-grated, a brick! You can shave pieces of it with the peeler.
The Sweet Peas
To make the Zoodle Carbonara dish wholesome, I’ve added some vivid green sweet peas and some extra protein. They make the dish whole! Although optional.
Other Zoodles Recipes
Zoodle Carbonara with Peas
Equipment
- 1 spiralizer or cheese grater, or juliennes mandoline
Ingredients
- 3 zucchini (spiralized)
- 12 shallots (finely chopped)
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 150 g smoked bacon (cut into small bits)
- 100 g sweet peas (fresh, frozen or canned)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
Toppings
- chives
- parmesan (shaved)
Instructions
- Add the chopped shallots to a small-sized pan or sauce pot on medium-low heat, with the olive oil and salt and cook until soften.
- During that time, make the zoodles, the way your prefer (spiralizer machine, mandoline or cheese grater).
- Reserve the zoodles in a sieve mixed with some salt to let them loose some water.
- Cut the bacon into small pieces, add to the shallots and bring the heat to medium-high. Cook for 3 minutes until crisp.
- Add the frozen peas, let cook until unfrozen, about 2 more minutes.
- Add the cream, a good amount of black pepper and salt to the sauce.
- Let the cream warm up until smoky (no bubbles), stop the fire and reserve.
- Pat dry the zoodles with a paper towel.
- Bring a big pan or skillet to medium-high heat, and add the olive oil to the pan and stir-fry the zoodles for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the carbonara sauce to the pan, mix it and cook for an extra minute.
- Take off the fire, add the egg yolk, mix.
- Top it with chives and shaved parmesan and serve.
Nutrition
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Enjoy!
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