Cajun Zucchini “Pasta” Carbonara

By: Nicole 22 Comments
Posted: 05/09/14 Updated: 03/17/15

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Guys. Big news.

No, I’m not pregnant.

No, I didn’t win the lottery.

My Mom got me a spiralizer in my Easter basket this year! (Yes, I’m 27 going on 28 and I still get an Easter basket from my parents.)

Ok, so not really that big of news, but I was pretty excited about it. I’ve wanted to try this whole spiralizer craze for quite sometime, but didn’t want to actually buy a spiralizer, I mean, how often would I really use it? BUT if someone else is getting for me, I’ll take it . Of course I got it out immediately, but only actually starting playing around with it after 25 minutes of trying to figure the darn thing out – note to self, don’t make everything so complicated.

These zucchini “noodles” were my inaugural attempt and I have to say, it was quite the success. So successful in fact, that I don’t need to ever eat pasta again.

Psych. You know very well I could never give up eating pasta. But seriously, I really really liked them, and was surprisingly, completely satisfied and full after I scarfed the whole thing down.

I thought it best to start out with something relatively simple, and I had bacon, eggs and parmesan cheese on hand so carbonara was my first inclination.

I cooked up a little bit of bacon in a non-stick skillet, took it out and drained off all of the fat except for about a tablespoon, added in my spiralized noodles along with a little bit of salt and garlic, and let them cook down.

Here’s a little preliminary warning, they cook down pretty significantly, I thought that two zucchinis would be plenty for two people, but it shrunk down so much that it only fed myself – as you can imagine Kevin was so disappointed that he ended up getting real pasta carbonara.

While the zucchini is cooking down I whisked an egg yolk, Cajun seasoning (optional) just a touch of milk and a big handful of parmesan cheese in a small bowl. When the zucchini was tender, I turned the heat on low and slowly poured in the egg mixture while tossing the “pasta.” The residual heat will start to cook the eggs, and create a super silky cream sauce, but make sure to keep tossing, if you stop, you risk curdling the eggs and many, many tears.

At the last minute the bacon is tossed back in along with a good amount of black pepper, and any additional salt or parmesan cheese to taste.

If you’re feeling fancy, you can fry up an egg to top it off with…

Have a great weekend my friends!

Cajun Zucchini “Pasta” Carbonara

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1

Serving Size: 1

Ingredients

2 small to medium zucchinis
3 pieces reduced fat bacon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
½ cup parmesan cheese, divided
1 ½ teaspoons Cajun seasoning

Instructions

Spiralize the zucchinis on the smallest setting resembling spaghetti.
In a large non-stick pan, crisp up bacon. Remove and drain all but ½ to 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. With the head on medium, add in noodles and salt.
Cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
While the zucchini is cooking, whisk together yolk, ¼ cup parmesan, milk and Cajun seasoning.
When the zucchini is softened, turn the heat off and slowly pour in egg mixture tossing constantly. Turn the heat back on low and keep tossing the noodles until sauce is thickened slightly.
Add remaining parmesan cheese, toss. Season with plenty of freshly cracked black peper, salt and more parmesan or Cajun seasoning to taste.

https://www.cookingforkeeps.com/cajun-zucchini-pasta-carbonara/

Meet Nicole

Welcome! My lifelong passion for delicious food and cooking has evolved over time into an equal love of showing you an elevated meal can be easy, approachable and most importantly, tasty. Dive in and find something perfect for you and your family!