Protein spaghetti carbonara
25 min · 49 g protein · 461 cals / serving
Carbonara still made the Roman way, with eggs, sharp pecorino and a lot of black pepper, rebuilt around protein spaghetti, lean Canadian bacon and a little blended cottage cheese that makes the sauce silky and hard to scramble. Sweet peas go in at the end.
Ingredients
- 6 oz protein pasta, dry, spaghetti (about 420 g once cooked)
- 10 1/2 oz canadian bacon, cut into thin strips
- 1 tsp olive oil
Sauce
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp cottage cheese (1%)
- 2/3 cup pecorino, finely grated, plus a little to serve
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
- 1 1/2 cups cooked frozen green peas
- 1/4 cup water, reserved pasta water
Steps
- Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the Canadian bacon strips 5–6 minutes, until browned and crisp at the edges. Take the pan off the heat.
- Cook the spaghetti in lightly salted boiling water until just al dente, adding the frozen peas for the last 2 minutes. Scoop out a mugful of the cooking water before you drain.
- While the pasta cooks, blend the eggs, cottage cheese, pecorino and most of the pepper until completely smooth, about 20 seconds.
- Tip the drained pasta and peas into the bacon pan, set it over the lowest heat and pour in the egg mixture with a splash of the pasta water. Toss constantly for 2–3 minutes, until the sauce thickens, clings to the spaghetti and reads 160°F on a thermometer. Loosen with more pasta water if it tightens, and serve at once with the rest of the pepper and a little extra pecorino.
Good to know
Why cottage cheese in a carbonara?
Blended smooth, it behaves like extra yolk: it thickens the sauce, carries the pecorino, and buffers the eggs so they turn creamy instead of scrambling. Once it is blended and heated you cannot pick it out as cottage cheese.
How do I keep the eggs from scrambling?
Lowest heat, constant tossing and a splash of pasta water. The sauce should go from thin to glossy over two or three minutes; if you see curds forming at the edge of the pan, lift it off the heat for a few seconds and keep tossing.
Can I use regular spaghetti?
Yes, the method is identical, at a score of about 57 instead of 61. Protein spaghetti, made partly from legume flour, adds protein and fiber and usually cooks a minute or two faster, so start tasting early.
Per
- Calories
- 136
- Protein
- (43%)
- 14 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (33%)
- 12 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 373 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1844 kcal goes into the pot and 1437 g of ingredients comes out as about 1360 g of food: 136 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.