No Cream Carbonara

Is Carbonara one of those dishes you love but are never too sure when to add the egg?  This is the most simple and tasty dish and it avoids the guilt of a carb-loaded meal made with cream.  It has none!  This should not take more than about 15mins to cook from start to finish.  The girls enjoy the simplicity of this dish, so I often just toss the cooked mushrooms through our portion after I've dished up theirs.  Mushrooms are one vegetable I can understand them not liking, I never did as a kid!

I love my carbonara with mushrooms, not totally traditional but by far the best!

NB. I will update this with a photo the next time we eat it... after a late evening playing out in the snow, we all rushed in to eat too quickly tonight!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
pasta: penne - spaghetti - whatever you like!
salt
cracked black pepper
1 tblspn butter
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
200g streaky bacon, sliced
3 eggs, beaten
1/3-1/2 cup parmesan cheese
4-6 portabella mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Method:

• Bring a pot of salty water to the boil on the stove.  Add pasta when boiling.
• In a non-stick pan, heat a good knob of butter.  Sauté the sliced mushrooms with salt and pepper and cook until browned.  Set aside.
• Add the onions and cook until soft and clear, then add the garlic
• Add bacon/pancetta to the pan and cook until tender and crispy.    
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and combine with the majority of parmesan. 
• Drain the pasta, keeping aside a little of the pasta water, and add pasta to bacon and stir to mix through.  
• Remove the pan from the heat entirely and use some pasta cooking water to move the pasta around in the pan, if necessary.
• Stir in the egg while the pasta is still hot and coat all the strands of pasta with the egg/cheese mixture.

Serve immediately with a shaving of additional parmesan and some cracked pepper.  Freshly chopped parsley if you want to add a touch of green.