This flexible recipe uses whatever you veg you have at home.
Ingredients (4 generous servings)
400gm pasta of your choice
2 tablespoons cooking oil
700gm – 900gm veg (fresh/tinned/frozen) eg:
Veg to fry: leek, onion, mushrooms, peppers, cauliflower, courgette, summer squash
Veg to boil: carrots, runner beans, brocolli, peas, sweetcorn
Green leaves: kale, chard, spinach etc (remove thick stalks and finely chop leaves)
Carbonara sauce:
approx 400gm jar of carbonara sauce or 3 eggs (you can substitute 1 or more eggs with 50gms cream cheese or cream per egg)
50gm grated hard cheese
Flavouring:
2 garlic cloves, minced (or garlic powder or puree)
1 teaspoon boullion/stock powder, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes, pinch of chilli flakes etc
1 teaspoon dry herbs/ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (optional)
Optional meat/fish addition:
bacon/pancetta/chorizo/ham/chicken/tinned, raw or smoked fish
Steps
1. Heat oil in a deep frying pan or wide saucepan.
2. Chop your frying veg (and meat if using) into bite size cubes. Add to frying pan, stir well and add lid. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
3. Heat water in a separate pot for the pasta.
4. When frying veg start to soften, add flavourings, stir and replace lid.
5. When water comes to the boil add pasta and cook according to packet instructions. Any veg that needs boiling can be added to the same pan 5 mins after the pasta.
6. If using, now add sliced green leaves to your frying veg. Stir well and keep lid on.
7. When pasta is cooked, drain and add to the frying veg and stir.
8. Pour in your carbonara sauce and half grated cheese. Stir well.
9. Taste and season as required. Serve with remaining grated cheese. You could also add a crunchy topping of oats, breadcrumbs, seeds and grated cheese to turn this into a pasta bake.
This dish re-heats well in a microwave. Just drizzle a bit of water on the pasta first so it doesn’t dry out.
Inspired by:
