I have really been enjoying the courgettes or zucchini so far this year. I was wondering how I could in corporate them into a pasta dish. I was looking in my fridge trying to find some inspiration when I saw some left over bacon. What could be better than a simple zucchini and bacon carbonara sauce? This dish was really amazing. I think the trick was to use the bacon fat to fry the zucchini rather than using oil. I will definitely be adding this recipe to my list of favorites.
Zucchini Carbonara
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Servings: 2
ingredients
- 4 ounces penne (gluten free for gluten free)
- 4 slices bacon (sliced)
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano
- 1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
directions
- Start cooking the penne.
- Fry the bacon in a pan.
- Cut the zucchini into penne shaped pieces.
- Drain most of the fat from the pan but reserve some to cook the zucchini.
- Add the zucchini, garlic and pepper and toss to coat in the bacon fat.
- Mix the egg and parmigiano reggiano in a bowl.
- Drain the cooked pasta reserving some of the water.
- Add the pasta to the pan and toss.
- Remove the pan from the heat and wait for the sizzling to stop.
- Add the egg mixture and toss to coat.
- Add a bit of the pasta water and toss to mix and coat.
Another great addition to Presto Pasta Nights, Kevin. I can’t wait for an overabundance of zucchini!!! By the way I grew up in Ontario in Cambridge an 1-1/2 from TO. I also lived 8 years in Oshawa before moving out west again.
the penne and zucchini look great like that! Nice job! I plan on trying it soon.
One can hardly go wrong with bacon and heavy cream! The zucchini is just there to round it out and add color 😉
I don’t see heavy cream in the recipe?!
Kevin, as usual – a great PPN addition. Thanks so much for being a great contributor to the fun.
That looks incredible. I love bacon. I was watching a cooking show the other night (can’t remember which) and the host actually kept a jar of solidified bacon drippings in his fridge to cook with. He just scooped some out and added it to the frying pan to flavour things. I thought what a dangerous idea!
This looks so good! I have plenty of zucchini in the garden so I am definitely saving this one.Thanks!
summer squash w/ zucchini looks good but i’ve not found any sumer squash yet.
Wonderful. Another zucchini recipe for the file. I have a huge amount of them at the moment! My partner loves carbonara. This will make him very happy!
Bless you for being the type of cook who will look at a pile of veggies and think, “That needs bacon!” :)~
I love carbonara and I love zucchini – this dish is wonderful!
Looks good I am also a big zucchini fan, and I like the idea of just putting them in everything.
oh-my-gosh…i made this for a recent v-day party…but minus the pasta…i loveee zucchini carbonara ^_^ sharing it with you 🙂
http://mochachocolatarita.blogspot.com/2008/02/zucchini-carbonara-ala-rita.html
Hi Kevin,
I visited your city the first part of this week. It is as beautiful as I remembered it from 30 yrs ago.
Also, I just tried this recipe. Made it for lunch and my husband and I loved it. Thank you for sharing!
I love this idea, I actually have a ton of zucchini on hand and some bacon right now. Perfect!
Exquisite!!! My husband and I loved this dish. I made for dinner last night. It was excellent and so easy to prepare!
omg i just got done eating this an it was great!! the parsley really adds alot of flavor and i was surprised about the fact that you didnt need that much cream….even though i added just a lil more.. great dish !
Loved it and it was so easy to make.
I am going to use this and serve over spaghetti squash —I'm going shopping today!
How many will this recipe serve, 2 maybe 1?
linda: This recipe makes 2 servings. Enjoy!