Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Asparagus Carbonara


I recently picked up a copy of EVERYDAY with Rachael Ray and immediately marked this recipe! I love pasta, bacon and asparagus, so I figured I couldn't go wrong--I was just praying that this recipe wasn't as much work as the last Rachael Ray recipe I tried! There was a bit of prep work involved, but not too much, by any means. My husband and I both really enjoyed this dish...it was unlike anything I have ever made, but a dish I will certainly make again! There was one major "issue" I had with the recipe--perhaps I'm just paranoid, but I'm not a fan of eating raw eggs. The original recipe stated to mix the pasta and asparagus into the egg/cheese mixture and then add the bacon at the end. I decided (after conferring with my sister) that I would add the pasta mixture (already mixed with the egg/cheese) to the skillet and simmer it for about five minutes to cook the egg. It was delicious!!!!

Asparagus Carbonara

2 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 bunch asparagus, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces bacon, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and cheese. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente, adding the asparagus during the last minute of cooking. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the hot pasta and asparagus to the egg mixture; toss to coat.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp; stir in the garlic. Add the wine and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Add the pasta mixture to the skillet and simmer for approximately 5 minutes, adding the reserved pasta water to moisten. Season with salt and pepper.

Source: Adapted from EVERYDAY with Rachael Ray (June/July 2009)

22 comments:

  1. wonderful recipe, hope you had a great evening meal lol

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  2. This sounds delicious, that ingredient combination is just wonderful!!

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  3. Ive never tried this with asparagus before - such a great idea!

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  4. I love the combination of asparagus and bacon, so this dish sounds really good! Your picture is great! Glad that it worked well for you. Thanks for sharing it.

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  5. I have just discovered Rachael Ray the last couple of weeks and have been having fun with her creative recipes. This recipe looks perfect and I'm totally with you on cooking the eggs.

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  6. Yumo... i am really am loving Asparagus lately.. in everything! Thanks for the recipe!

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  7. I love Rachael ray. Her recipes are really good and pretty healthy.

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  8. I love carbonara. This sounds particularly good. I get all oogly over the raw egg thing too.

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  9. mmmm, this looks so good, i love asparagus too!

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  10. This looks and sounds delicious! I worry about using raw eggs in carbonara, too, which is funny because I've certainly had my share of unbaked cookie dough!

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  11. Looks and sounds delicious! It reminds me of when we had our foreign exchange student from France. One night he made Spaghetti Carbonara for us. He put all the cooked ingredients in a large casserole dish, broke two eggs and placed them on top of the spaghetti in half the shell. He then placed the lid over the top and called us all to eat. After we were all sitting at the table, he removed the casserole lid, and with great flourish, took the egg shells, poured the eggs on top of the spaghetti then with two serving utensils, stirred the raw eggs into the spaghetti as I watched with great trepidation! I have to admit, it was delicious and we didn't get sick!
    I prefer your way of mixing the eggs!
    Great recipe. Thanks!

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  12. Wow that looks wonderful. Too bad my husband won't eat asparagus!

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  13. I tried this one this week, too, and loved it. Carbonara is my comfort food!

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  14. Oh that looks delish! Gonna have to find some fresh asparagus now!

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  15. yum, i love asparagus! and with a little bacon, how could you go wrong with dish? i'm with you on the raw egg, i wouldn't eat it either.

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  16. I wrote this one down for sure....and I have an award for you over at my place if you'd like it

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  17. I have an award over here for you also!

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  18. This looks great - a nice variation!

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  19. My apologies, I had signed up to follow your blog and then missed it when I uploaded to my page...I'm just rediscovering it and enjoying having a good read through for ideas

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  20. Stopping by from SITS! I love pasta, asparagus and bacon...I'm positive I will love this dish! I will be trying it very soon. Have a great day.

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  21. This dish sounds delicious and looks so pretty. I'm the same way over here with the raw eggs. Sounds like this dish was a big success.

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  22. Just an FYI, because the pasta is steaming hot and you are mixing the egg all through it, it does get cooked.

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