Mushroom carbonara
Time: 30 min | Difficulty: 1/5 | Recommendation: Weekday lunch or dinner
Did you know you can make carbonara with like, anything? Obviously bacon bits or pancetta are the classic base, and for good reason because the meat not only tastes great with eggs and pasta, but leaves a nice oily residue in the pan that helps the whole sauce come together. I love a classic carbonara as much as anyone (and it’s crazy easy to make), but you can also make it with sausage, or even asparagus to lighten it up—or king oyster mushrooms! They’re a really meaty mushroom that holds up against high heat and flavor, and when you chop them up small, they can take the place of bacon really well. Basically, this is a carbonara recipe for one, to which you can pretty much add anything you want! Be creative! Just please don’t add cream…
Ingredients/Tools:
One egg + one egg yolk
Parmesan (preferably freshly grated off a big chunk, but you can also use pre-grated)
1 king oyster mushroom (AKA trumpet mushroom)
Pasta (remember that a handful is about the amount you want for one person!)
Olive oil
Method:
Set water to boil for pasta, and add pasta when ready.
Chop up the mushroom into bacon-bit sized pieces. Add to a pan with lots of olive oil and a bit of butter. Sauté until crispy, then leave in the pan.
In a bowl, whisk 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. Add grated parmesan (like, a lot—you want it to be more like a slurry than a sauce!) and mix. Add pepper and chili flakes.
Heat the mushroom pan back up a bit if you need to, if it’s starting to cool down. When the pasta is ready, transfer it directly from the pot into the hot mushroom pan (embrace any pasta water that comes with it). Stir it all around.
Add the egg mixture directly into the pan and stir it all around until it emulsifies. You shouldn’t need to turn the heat back on (you’ll just cook the eggs), and by stirring it aggressively, the residual heat from the pasta and the pan will cook the eggs enough so it’s safe to eat.
Enjoy with some more parm and pepper on top!
Want that asparagus carbonara recipe? Check it out on my Instagram here!