Vegetarian Carbonara

I first tried making carbonara when I studied abroad in college. I had a few disadvantages then: a semi-working cook top in place of range, a refrigerator the size of my foot, a kitchen that tripled as a hallway and closet, and a complete lack of understanding how to make carbonara. I had the vague idea that cheese and eggs were involved, so I went to the grocery store and bought a kilo of pasta, some cheese that I hoped read parmesan (my Greek is still not particularly great), and some whole milk. I then mixed all three together.

It wasn’t particularly good (I would even use the word "horrible"), but as it was the second to last weekend I was in the country and was completely broke, I ate it for every meal for three days.

I think you can understand why it’s taken me four years to try again. But I’m glad I did. This is not a low-fat dish. This is not a vegan dish. This isn’t a non-dairy dish. It is, however, perfect for those cold nights when you need comfort food. And now that I kind of know what I’m doing, I’m definitely putting this recipe into rotation.

Vegetarian Carbonara

Slightly adapted from Tyler Florence 

It’s important to add the egg and cheese mixture immediately after draining the pasta because the heat from the pasta cooks the raw egg in the sauce. Traditionally carbonara has bacon (or pancetta) in it. To include it, simply cook the bacon while the pasta is boiling, then add the garlic and follow the recipe as written.

Ingredients

1/2 pound dry pasta

Olive Oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large egg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 cup frozen peas

Black pepper

Salt

Equipment:

Pot, pan

Beat the egg and parmesan cheese together in a separate bowl and set aside.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil, add the pasta and cook as directed.  Add the frozen peas to the pot of pasta in the last two minutes of cooking time. In the same last two minutes of pasta cooking time, heat olive oil in a small pan and add garlic to soften.

Drain the pasta and reserve about a 1/4 cup of the water. Add the pasta, reserved water, garlic, and egg/cheese mixture back into pot and mix quickly until the eggs thicken.

Season each bowl with freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.