A- Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara: Lightening up dinner for a change

I love Spaghetti Carbonara.  I mean, love it.  Its richness, its texture.  It is actually my favorite thing to make with leftover pasta for breakfast.  The problem is is that I don't feel good about eating it.  I love good food.  At the same time, I struggle, because I want to eat healthy food, at least, most of the time.

Eating Spaghetti Carbonara seems wrong, somehow, to me.  So tonight, I decided to try to lighten it up, and to be honest, the product was successful, at least for me.  I have to be honest when I say that I usually don't like "light" recipes. I normally figure that if you are going to eat, you should eat.  But, sometimes I make exceptions.  I rarely eat beef, and will replace it with turkey without hesitation.  I use some low fat products such as mayonnaise, sour cream and milk, etc. And I rarely eat pasta that is not whole grain, except when I make it fresh.

Now to say that this is a "healthy" meal would be deceiving.  I'm sure it's not. But compared to it's counterpart, I feel fulfilled and don't feel badly about my dinner.  Traditional Carbonara is based on Pancetta (Italian Bacon), eggs, sometimes cream, and lots of cheese.  Carbonara is easy no matter what recipe you use.  The trick is not to curdle the eggs.  The way you do this is to mix it with cream (or in this case buttermilk) and to turn off the heat before adding it to the pasta.  I make sure to use fresh eggs for this (I like using free range organic eggs. I may be a student, but this is one of my few extravagant ingredients I will spend money on.  Well, this, and good Parmeggiano Reggiano--ok, there are others....)

This recipe as well as many others only take as much time as it takes to make pasta, so it is perfect for a busy day. Please try it and let me know what you think.

Shameem's Non-Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara
(serves one and I'm sure can be easily multiplied)

2 oz. whole grain spaghetti (I like Barilla whole grain, it doesn't taste too wheaty)
1 T. salt
2 quarts water

1/2 leek, cut in half, rinsed carefully in lots of water, and thinly sliced
4 Crimini mushrooms
1/2 t. olive oil
pinch salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup white wine
2 oz. Canadian bacon, roughly chopped

1 oz. Parmeggiano Reggiano, grated
1/2 oz. Pecorino Romano, grated
1 T. buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 t. black pepper, freshly ground, coarse
1 T. parsley

Directions
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.  Once it is at a boil, add the salt.  Add your pasta.  Cook until just al dente (so that it still has a bit of a bite.)

While the water is coming to a boil, saute the leeks in olive oil with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes on medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes more.  Add garlic and bacon and cook for one minute.  Add the wine and cook for one minute until the wine evaporates.

Mix the egg, buttermilk, pinch of salt, pepper and cheeses in a small bowl.

When the pasta is done, take the vegetables off of the heat.  Add the pasta using tongs.  Don't worry about a little extra water going into the pan.  Mix the pasta and the vegetables.  Add the eggs and cheese and mix well.  Top with parsley and extra pepper and serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy it!