Courgette Carbonara
Carbonara is a classic pasta sauce made with cream, bacon and Parmesan and is absolutely delicious. Try to buy the best ingredients you can, as that helps to make this dish amazing. I'm using a flowering variety of thyme but normal thyme is fine to use. When it comes to the type of pasta, you can serve carbonara with spaghetti or linguine, but I've been told by Italian mammas that penne is the original, so that's what I'm using in this recipe. Before you start cooking, it's important to get yourself a very large pan, or use a high-sided roasting tray so you can give the pasta a good toss.
Carbonara is a classic pasta sauce made with cream, bacon and Parmesan and is absolutely delicious. Try to buy the best ingredients you can, as that helps to make this dish amazing. I'm using a flowering variety of thyme but normal thyme is fine to use. When it comes to the type of pasta, you can serve carbonara with spaghetti or linguine, but I've been told by Italian mammas that penne is the original, so that's what I'm using in this recipe. Before you start cooking, it's important to get yourself a very large pan, or use a high-sided roasting tray so you can give the pasta a good toss.
- olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
- 4 large eggs
- sea salt
- 6 medium green and yellow courgettes
- 500 grams penne pasta
- 100 ml single cream
- 1 small handful parmesan cheese grated
- 6 slices back bacon cut into lardons
- 1 small bunch thyme leaves picked and chopped, flowers reserved (if you can get hold of flowering thyme)
- a few courgette flowers
- Carbohydrate 46.7276334867123 g
- Cholesterol 353.249295457107 mg
- Fat 11.6390925925019 g
- Fiber 0.01159375 g
- Protein 18.2425648330938 g
- Saturated Fat 4.24320223071335 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (166g)
- Sodium 217.258941817437 mg
- Sugar 46.7160397367123 g
- Trans Fat 1.90235029583553 g
- Calories 367 calories
Step-by-step
- Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Halve and then quarter any larger courgettes lengthways. Cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits, and slice the courgettes at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. Smaller courgettes can simply be sliced finely. Your water will now be boiling, so add the penne to the pan and cook according to the packet instructions.
- To make your creamy carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan, and mix together with a fork. Season lightly and put to one side.
- Heat a very large frying pan (a 35cm one is a good start – every house should have one!), add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon until dark brown and crisp. Add the courgette slices and 2 big pinches of black pepper, not just to season but to give it a bit of a kick. Sprinkle in the thyme leaves, give everything a stir, so the courgettes become coated with all the lovely bacon-flavoured oil, and fry until they start to turn lightly golden and have softened slightly.
- It's very important to get this next bit right or your carbonara could end up ruined. You need to work quickly. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Immediately, toss the pasta in the pan with the courgettes, bacon and lovely flavours, then remove from the heat and add a ladleful of the reserved cooking water and your creamy sauce. Stir together quickly. (No more cooking now, otherwise you'll scramble the eggs.)
- Get everyone around the table, ready to eat straight away. While you're tossing the pasta and sauce, sprinkle in the rest of the Parmesan and a little more of the cooking water if needed, to give you a silky and shiny sauce. Taste quickly for seasoning. If you've managed to get any courgette flowers, tear them over the top, then serve and eat immediately, as the sauce can become thick and stodgy if left too long.
What happens when the hot pasta hits the bowl and the sauce threatens to turn into scrambled eggs? Managing residual thermal energy is the single most critical variable when combining egg yolks, cheese, and boiling starch water off the heat source. Starch molecules from the boiling water hydrate and swell, acting as a protective hydrocolloid suspension network that stabilizes the fat emulsion before the ambient protein coagulation point of sixty-two degrees Celsius is crossed. Using a skillet at least thirty-five centimeters in diameter ensures adequate surface area for the penne to cool down fractionally on contact rather than retaining destructive pockets of concentrated heat.
Slicing the courgettes to match the geometric profile of the penne creates uniform resistance during the sauté phase, allowing the vegetables to soften and brown evenly within approximately eight to ten minutes. Removing the fibrous central pith from larger specimens prevents excess moisture from leaching into the bacon fat, which would otherwise steam the pan instead of frying the lardons to a crisp, dark brown. Black pepper does more than supply heat; piperine compounds are fat-soluble, meaning the hot bacon drippings extract the aromatic oils from the freshly ground peppercorns far more effectively than water ever could.
Single cream provides an additional buffer of dairy fats and milk solids that resists sudden thermal shock, though the pan must be entirely removed from the burner prior to its introduction. Whisking the egg yolks and parmesan together beforehand allows the salt to partially dissolve into the lipids, lowering water activity and reducing the risk of protein curdling. Reserve at least one full ladle of starchy pasta water before draining the penne, as this cloudy liquid contains the exact gelatinized starches required to bind the fat and cheese into a glossy coating.
Serve the dish immediately upon mixing, because continuous starch retrogradation will cause the sauce to thicken and turn stodgy within minutes as the starches cool and recrystallize. Tearing delicate courgette flowers over the plated pasta adds a subtle vegetal sweetness that balances the sharp umami of aged parmesan and cured pork. Keep the remaining thyme flowers intact to garnish the surface visually, adding a clean herbal top note that cuts through the rich dairy fats lingering on the palate.
