I have to say one of the more proud moments of my recent weeks was when I found out a friend has also started Atkins and I actually have people who read my blog!
With that said, we had a delicious meal last night–spaghetti squash carbonara. Now, I have been eating carbonara since I was a small child and my uncle, who taught in Italy for years, showed us what “real” Italian food tasted like. Had I not been involved in the process of making this meal, I would swear there was no difference in what we ate last night and the “real” thing.
The recipe we used is here (Emeril):
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 large spaghetti squash (about 2 pounds), halved and seeded
- 1/2 pound bacon or pancetta, cut into small strips crosswise*
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot*
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/4 cup white wine*
- 2 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle the bottom of a large, shallow baking dish with 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoons pepper. Place the squash flesh side down in the pan and add enough water to come up about 1/4-inch. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and cook in the oven until the squash is just fork tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.Shred the squash with a fork and transfer to a large heat proof bowl.
In a large saute pan, over medium heat, cook the bacon until it becomes a light brown but is not yet crispy. Pour off most of the fat and then add the shallots and garlic. Saute for 1 minute until the garlic and shallots are fragrant and begin to caramelize. Add the white wine and cook until the liquid has completely evaporated.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs together with the cheese and the parsley. Season with the remaining salt and pepper. Combine the eggs with the bacon mixture, warming the eggs in the pan. (Do not let the eggs cook through.) Add the spaghetti squash and toss to thoroughly combine and until squash is heated through. Adjust seasoning, if necessary and serve immediately.
*A few changes:
We used turkey bacon instead of pancetta,
onions instead of shallots,
left out the white wine
added 1cup sliced white mushrooms
added 1lb of shrimp to the pan with the bacon, onions, mushrooms and garlic
As always, I took a picture but it truly doesn’t do it justice. So here is a google image of what a nice picture looks like. Just imagine shrimp and more mushrooms.
velascomusings 