I am the first one to admit I am not consistent. For better or worse I am always contradicting myself. So when I say that classic recipes should adhere to time honored traditions, I also say things like “Why not add wild asparagus to Carbonara?”
So while I would never think of adding tomatoes to Carbonara (the horror!) I have zero problem substituting guanciale with asparagus or even zucchini. AND I add onions. While the pasta police might come and arrest me, I am safe in saying that this one is definitely a keeper and might be worth the fine.
I ended up making Asparagus Carbonara mostly out of necessity. We were up in Umbria and I had neither guanciale nor pancetta. I did, however, have some super fresh eggs from the market and barely a handful of just-picked wild asparagus. Feel free to substitute regular asparagus, cut into rounds, or even zucchini when the season changes. Both of these green vegetables complement the egg and cheese combo of carbonara, and also add a colorful touch.
If you’re wondering how the pasta got so yellow it’s because the egg yolks from this farmer are insane. Bright yellow and so rich and silky. Do try and search out the best eggs you can get for this dish. It make a huge difference.
The recipe is below, and if you’d like to see a short video here is one.
Asparagus Carbonara
Yield 4-5
Ingredients
- 500 gr/ 1 pound bucatini (or any pasta shape of your choice)
- 1 small shallot or onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Handful of asparagus
- salt
- pepper
- 1 1/2 cup grated parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 whole egg
- 4 egg yolks
Instructions
Chop the asparagus into bite size pieces, discarding any tough stems. Set aside.
Bring a pot of water to boil, add salt and pasta.
While the pasta is cooking place the butter and olive oil in a pan large enough to hold the drained pasta later. Add the onion, and let soften for a few minutes. Add the asparagus, salt and pepper and stir. Add a ladle full of the pasta cooking water to help the asparagus cook.
In the meantime beat the eggs and cheese together in a small bowl, until creamy. Add freshly ground black pepper.
When the pasta is al dente, drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Add the drained pasta to the pan with the asparagus, along with the water. Stir over heat to finish cooking the pasta.
Take off heat (this is important so the eggs don't scramble) and add the cheese egg mixture, stirring well to combine. It should become creamy.
NOTE: This recipe contains raw eggs, so if you have issues with this then the recipe probably isn't for you.
For more recipes from my kitchen see my book The Italian Table
And if you’d like to come cooking (and eating ) with me in Italy, my full list of tours are here.
This looks absolutely wonderful. I was just browsing through your Blog’s archives after reading your excellent article about eating bread in Italy. I just discovered your blog through that article, earlier in the day, and after refreshing the page I was delighted to see this brand new article. Looks delightful. I am also looking for some pasta recipes, so I’ll definitely be saving this one for future reference. Cheers!
That vista under the wisteria (and that splatterware)–I can feel and smell Italy with that image–thank you!
We often use this technique when making pasta with vegetables. Always delicious and satisfying. After some intense scoldings from the Pasta Police I just call it what is and basta. Goody polemica be damned. “A rose is a tose is a rose.”
Hi Elizabeth. I’ve made this twice now and it is 100% a keeper. One of your best recipes. I even forgive you calling it carbonara. The only thing I idid different was temper the eggs slightly with some pasta water. I’m always terrified of scrambling the eggs. It’s asparagus season in New England so especially good right now. Thankyou, thank you, thank you!!!
Glad you liked it!!
This was delicious and easy to pull together from staples. Yum, thanks for the tweak to an old classic!