Spaghetti Carbonara with Roasted Cauliflower

Spaghetti  Carbonara is a classic pasta dish that requires only a few basic ingredients, comes together in minutes, and is so wonderfully sinful it should be illegal.

 

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There are only a few ingredients needed for this amazing pasta dish – pasta, eggs, cured pork such as bacon or pancetta, hard aged cheese such as Parmesan or Pecorino and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. This dish is so much more than the sum of its parts. Steaming hot pasta is tossed with raw eggs and grated cheese, resulting in a luxuriously creamy sauce without the addition of any cream. I just love roasted cauliflower and I thought it would work beautifully in this dish. I also replaced the Parmesan with an aged Asiago cheese as that is what I had on hand.

Spaghetti Carbonara with Roasted Cauliflower
Recipe source: A Vintage Kitchen

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets
• olive oil
• 3 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing
• 1/2 lb. spaghetti
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss cauliflower with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread on baking sheet. Roast until golden brown – about 25 minutes. In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and cook onion in the drippings until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 minutes more. In a small bowl whisk eggs, Parmesan and a splash of the pasta water. Off the heat toss the pasta with the egg mixture, tossing together until the sauce is creamy. Add the cauliflower, bacon/onion mixture and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Arrange on serving bowls and garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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