Spring Pasta Carbonara with Peas + Spinach
You will love this lighter and brighter version of a traditional carbonara. With a few tweaks, this dish adds classic spring time veggies—peas and spinach! It’s incredibly simple yet rich and delicious. It’s the type of dish that everyone will think took you forever, when in reality it only takes about 2- minutes! Timing is key in this recipe, so make sure to bring your eggs to room temperature before you start (I put mine in a bowl with warm water), and have all of the ingredients ready before you toss the pasta in the sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta of choice (I used Gemelli)
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced on microplane
- 6 ounces fresh English peas (or frozen)
- 3 oz fresh baby spinach
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the garlic and scallions and cook, stirring, being careful not to burn the garlic, for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the spinach, peas and ¼ tsp salt and cook, stirring, until the peas are tender and spinach is wilted about 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Whisk together the eggs, parmesan, basil and ½ tsp salt in a large serving bowl.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, cook pasta according to package instructions. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water (we will use it later), then drain the cooked pasta. Toss the cooked pasta with the pea mixture.
- Immediately add the hot pasta/veggie mixture to the egg/cheese mixture, tossing quickly (to ensure the eggs do not scramble) until the eggs thicken and create a sauce. Thin the sauce with the reserved pasta water, until it reaches your desired consistency. Add the butter and gently toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide the pasta between plates. Top with fresh basil and additional parmesan cheese.