This vegetarian dish is inspired by the renowned Carbonara. I would not call it "Vegetarian Carbonara" though, as there is no such thing in Italy. If you are interested in the original Roman dish, many Cannolo Award winners have recipes for it (for instance the excellent La Carbonara by Due Spaghetti).
Aside from how it should be called, the dish that I'm presenting is absolutely delicious and fun to eat. Just like for Carbonara, the main execution difficulty is to find the right moisture balance, allowing the eggs to firm up "just enough".
Ingredients for 2 servings
- 120 g (4 ¼ oz) dried spaghetti (or linguine, as in the picture above)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) smoked scamorza (or smoked provolone), thinly diced
- 3 Tbsp Parmigiano, grated
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- Salt and black pepper, freshly ground
Preparation
- Prepare the ingredients, then start boiling the pasta in salted water for the time indicated on the box.
- Lightly beat the eggs with the Parmigiano, 2 teaspoons of cold water, and salt.
- Roast the garlic in the butter at low heat for 5 minutes, then discard the garlic.
- When the pasta is ready, drain it quickly then toss it back in its pot, still warm, along with the melted butter. Stir gently.
- Add the beaten eggs and cheese, then continue to stir, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the eggs start to firm up (if necessary, turn the heat back on for a minute). It's important to keep the eggs partly runny, as they will continue to cook in the plates.
- Serve immediately covered with the smoked scamorza, and some black pepper. The heat of the pasta will soften the cheese and melt it slightly.
