Herby Spaghetti Carbonara With Asparagus
This Herby Spaghetti Carbonara with Asparagus is like the fancy city cousin to your classic carbonara. The sauce is only made with egg yolks instead of the whole egg, giving the sauce boosted flavor and color, and the fresh parsley gives the dish a welcome dose of green. This recipe is a hit with the kids too, or your inner kid if you want breakfast for dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried spaghetti or bucatini
- 6 strips bacon
- 5 large egg yolks, room temperature ideally
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 2/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese (the real kind)
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt, plus more for pasta water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 12 asparagus spears, cleaned and trimmed
Instructions
- Make the carbonara sauce. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, parsley, cheese, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Lay the bacon strips in a cold frying pan (starting in a cold pan will prevent smoking).
- Bring the pan up to medium high heat and fry until crisp. Remove strips from heat and drain on paper towels.
- Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and drain the rest. Add the asparagus spears to the pan and saute until crisp tender, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous handful of salt to the water, then add in the spaghetti. Boil until al dente or according to the package instructions.
- Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, and set aside. Then drain the pasta and return it quickly to the pot to keep the heat.
- Slowly stream in about 1/3 cup of pasta water into the carbonara sauce, whisking the entire time. Whisk until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Pour the sauce over the hot spaghetti and toss quickly to combine. Keep tossing until the sauce becomes glossy and coats the spaghetti. Add some more pasta water if it seems too thick.
- Plate the spaghetti immediately and top with a few bacon strips and asparagus.