Again, this is the recipe almost exactly as it is written on “Simply Recipes”: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_pasta_carbonara/.
Ingredients:
"Salt
3/4 pound egg noodles [one bag or box of pasta]
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
1/4 pound prosciutto, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 summer squash, yielding 4 cups chopped squash
Salt and pepper
4 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for topping)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup basil leaves, sliced thin*
* To slice the basil leaves, chiffonade them by stacking basil
leaves on top of each other, roll them up into a cigar shape, starting
at one end and working your way down the "cigar" take thin slices from
the end.
1. To cook the pasta, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water [if you wish] (one tablespoon of salt for 2 quarts of water).
2. As the water for the pasta is heating, prep your vegetables and heat olive oil and butter on medium high in a large sauté pan. [I like to add all the squash and onions plus the minced garlic to one bowl so that when the meat is done frying, I can just dump the whole lot into the pan at the same time.] Working in batches, lay pieces of sliced prosciutto down in the pan. Fry gently on both sides until just lightly browned (no more than a minute, more likely 30 seconds each side, the prosciutto is very thin), remove from pan with tongs or a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Once cool, tear [or chop] into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the oil in the pan.
3. Add pasta to boiling salted water. The pasta should take about 10-12 minutes to cook until al dente (cooked but still a bit firm), which is just about the right amount of time you'll need to cook the vegetables. Cook with a rolling boil, uncovered.
4. While the pasta is cooking, add the onions, garlic, and summer squash to the sauté pan that you had used to cook the prosciutto. The heat should be medium high. Stir the vegetables so that they are all coated with oil from the pan, then spread them out in the pan, generously salt and pepper them. Cook until they are just lightly browned, stirring only occasionally. Remove from heat.
5. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the grated Parmesan and lemon zest.
6. When the pasta is ready, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the squash and onions (or add the veggies to the pasta, depending on the size of your pans). Pour the egg, Parmesan, lemon zest mixture over the pasta mixture and quickly stir in with a wooden spoon. The heat from the pasta will sufficiently cook the eggs. Add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water if it looks a little dry. Stir in the prosciutto and basil. Garnish with more basil and grated Parmesan."
2. As the water for the pasta is heating, prep your vegetables and heat olive oil and butter on medium high in a large sauté pan. [I like to add all the squash and onions plus the minced garlic to one bowl so that when the meat is done frying, I can just dump the whole lot into the pan at the same time.] Working in batches, lay pieces of sliced prosciutto down in the pan. Fry gently on both sides until just lightly browned (no more than a minute, more likely 30 seconds each side, the prosciutto is very thin), remove from pan with tongs or a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Once cool, tear [or chop] into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the oil in the pan.
3. Add pasta to boiling salted water. The pasta should take about 10-12 minutes to cook until al dente (cooked but still a bit firm), which is just about the right amount of time you'll need to cook the vegetables. Cook with a rolling boil, uncovered.
4. While the pasta is cooking, add the onions, garlic, and summer squash to the sauté pan that you had used to cook the prosciutto. The heat should be medium high. Stir the vegetables so that they are all coated with oil from the pan, then spread them out in the pan, generously salt and pepper them. Cook until they are just lightly browned, stirring only occasionally. Remove from heat.
5. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the grated Parmesan and lemon zest.
6. When the pasta is ready, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the squash and onions (or add the veggies to the pasta, depending on the size of your pans). Pour the egg, Parmesan, lemon zest mixture over the pasta mixture and quickly stir in with a wooden spoon. The heat from the pasta will sufficiently cook the eggs. Add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water if it looks a little dry. Stir in the prosciutto and basil. Garnish with more basil and grated Parmesan."
Note: You should mix everything together at the end without the pasta water first, then you can add more water to it if it is dry. It's my experience, though, that it's not necessary. It's better to be a little on the dry side versus having too much liquid. The third time I made it, I added too much water, and the result was basically zucchini pasta soup...
Wow. The pasta turned out great this time, though. I have never added the prosciutto before, but I would highly, highly recommend you do not skip it unless you are a strict vegetarian/vegan or just really don't like meat. It adds so much to the dish. It has a nice smoky, umami flavor that pairs well with the lemon zest in the cream sauce. The lemon zest helps freshen and brighten the dish so that the taste of the meat is savory without being overpowering. I am excited to make this dish many more times during the summer, when we will have fresh squash both from our own garden and from our half-share CSA box (my mom buys from Loon Organics, which has a stall at the Mill City Farmers Market on Saturdays).
I fried the prosciutto until it was nice and crispy. It should have a nice reddish-brown color to it that intensifies as it fries. That's how you'll know it's ready to come out of the pan and onto the paper towel.
I got a really good reaction from my family about this recipe, too. Everyone loved it. Overall, I think my only stipulation was that four eggs might be too much. I seemed to have too much of the custard-like sauce after I stirred everything in. Maybe you like a little extra sauce, but I would have liked everything to be a bit more lightly coated. Again, though, it's all a matter of taste. When it comes time for the mixing, I would say to do it quickly, but don't be in a rush, either. The pasta won't cool much that fast, so the sauce is very likely to turn out just fine if you work steadily but carefully.
I'm pretty proud of myself for this one. This was one of the first recipes that I really started to make on my own, and it's not something that anyone else in the house ever makes. It's sort of like my pet recipe, and I think that if I were to host a dinner party, this is what I would serve the first time around. I also love that it's pretty flexible. You can add any kind of squash, any kind of salted meat (or not), any kind of bite-sized pasta (I prefer rotini with this recipe, but I didn't find a box until my mom pointed it out on the bottom shelf of our cupboard), or any kind of hard cheese (or not) to the sauce as you prefer. Furthermore, this is a really simple recipe that is very easy to accomplish single-handedly. If you use one box of pasta and are feeding yourself, you can get at least six meals out of it.
In general, I just really like feeding my family and feeling like I'm pulling my weight around here. Even more than that, I'm just glad I decided to start this blog. It's just such a passion project for me, and I love to share my (admittedly pretty limited) knowledge of cooking with like-minded individuals. I'm thinking this is really going to be a good learning experience for me, as I'm hoping my readers (you're out there, right?) will share what they know with me in return. In the mean time, bon apetit!
Wow. The pasta turned out great this time, though. I have never added the prosciutto before, but I would highly, highly recommend you do not skip it unless you are a strict vegetarian/vegan or just really don't like meat. It adds so much to the dish. It has a nice smoky, umami flavor that pairs well with the lemon zest in the cream sauce. The lemon zest helps freshen and brighten the dish so that the taste of the meat is savory without being overpowering. I am excited to make this dish many more times during the summer, when we will have fresh squash both from our own garden and from our half-share CSA box (my mom buys from Loon Organics, which has a stall at the Mill City Farmers Market on Saturdays).
I fried the prosciutto until it was nice and crispy. It should have a nice reddish-brown color to it that intensifies as it fries. That's how you'll know it's ready to come out of the pan and onto the paper towel.
I got a really good reaction from my family about this recipe, too. Everyone loved it. Overall, I think my only stipulation was that four eggs might be too much. I seemed to have too much of the custard-like sauce after I stirred everything in. Maybe you like a little extra sauce, but I would have liked everything to be a bit more lightly coated. Again, though, it's all a matter of taste. When it comes time for the mixing, I would say to do it quickly, but don't be in a rush, either. The pasta won't cool much that fast, so the sauce is very likely to turn out just fine if you work steadily but carefully.
I'm pretty proud of myself for this one. This was one of the first recipes that I really started to make on my own, and it's not something that anyone else in the house ever makes. It's sort of like my pet recipe, and I think that if I were to host a dinner party, this is what I would serve the first time around. I also love that it's pretty flexible. You can add any kind of squash, any kind of salted meat (or not), any kind of bite-sized pasta (I prefer rotini with this recipe, but I didn't find a box until my mom pointed it out on the bottom shelf of our cupboard), or any kind of hard cheese (or not) to the sauce as you prefer. Furthermore, this is a really simple recipe that is very easy to accomplish single-handedly. If you use one box of pasta and are feeding yourself, you can get at least six meals out of it.
In general, I just really like feeding my family and feeling like I'm pulling my weight around here. Even more than that, I'm just glad I decided to start this blog. It's just such a passion project for me, and I love to share my (admittedly pretty limited) knowledge of cooking with like-minded individuals. I'm thinking this is really going to be a good learning experience for me, as I'm hoping my readers (you're out there, right?) will share what they know with me in return. In the mean time, bon apetit!
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| And here's the finished product. I wanted to snap a photo just after it was done, but I sort of forgot...I guess I just got carried away and wanted to eat dinner ASAP! Photo enhanced by Instagram filtering. |
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