Creamy Carbonara

Carbonara is my favourite go-to ‘cheat meal’ – this is the only time I’ll call it a cheat meal. It’s not cheating if it fits your macros!
It’s simple to make, but the sauce traditionally contains a lot of cheese. So I thought I’d share with you my favourite recipe minus (most) of the cheese. The great thing about this recipe is that it also contains a good amount of protein!

In this recipe I’ve used Quorn chicken as a vegetarian option. If you’re not a vegetarian you can add real chicken and/or bacon lardons. Just be sure to update your macros accordingly!

As with all of my recipes, this serves 4 people. I just put the leftovers in a tub for lunch.

Approx. Macro’s – per serving:

Calories – 404
Fat (g) 18.8
Carbs (g) 28.8
Protein (g) 25.9

Ingredients:

150g organic wholewheat spaghetti
250g meat free Quorn pieces
140g mild white cheddar, grated
100g baby button mushrooms, sliced
100g garden peas, thawed
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 egg yolk
1 tsp extra virgin organic coconut oil

Method:

1. Whisk the egg yolks together and stir in the cheddar cheese.
2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat with the coconut oil. Fry the Quorn chicken for 5-10 minutes until soft, then add the mushrooms.
3. Bring a large pan of water to boil and cook the spaghetti according to package directions for al dente. Keep one and a half cups of water aside for the pasta sauce before draining.
4. Once the chicken and mushrooms are cooked, move from the pan onto a paper-towel lined plate to blot. Wipe the pan clean to remove any fat and return it to medium heat. Add the garlic to the pan, frying for only 30 seconds-1 minute.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cooked spaghetti and half of the reserved pasta water.
6. Add the egg and cheese mixture, stirring to form the pasta sauce. Be sure to do this quickly so that the eggs don’t cook in the pan.
7. Once the sauce has mixed in, return the pan to the heat and add the thawed peas, mushrooms and chicken – the water from the spaghetti will cook the peas.

If the sauce is too thick, simply add more pasta water. If it’s too thin, put the pan over a very low heat and stir until thickened.

Don’t forget the macro’s will vary depending on your ingredients, so you’ll need to double check them.

Happy munching!

A.x