Creamy carbonara-style pasta - but low fat!

I do love pasta, particularly with creamy, rich sauces - preferably with plenty of garlic and cheese. However, when we're trying to eat a little more healthily, and more conscious of what we're consuming, I decided to try making a carbonara-style pasta, with plenty of taste, but less of the calories!  A good, quick and easy meal - and low fat.

So, for two people:-

I chopped 4-6 smoked bacon medallions (these have the fat removed, but you can always remove any that's left).  In a large non-stick frying pan, add a little spray oil and fry 2 chopped shallots gently until softened.  Add 2 or 3 crushed cloves of garlic according to taste, and fry for 1 minute. Add the chopped bacon and continue frying gently, stirring regularly, until the bacon is cooked and starting to crisp.

In a mixing bowl beat 2 large, free range eggs, two tablespoons of quark and plenty of seasoning. A good tip when using quark in cooking, is to let it come to room temp before adding to your recipe - it helps to prevent splitting!  Then stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan.

Cook dried tagliatelle or linguine pasta - amount according to appetite! - following packet instructions, until al dente.  Five minutes before the end of the cooking time, I added half a cup full of frozen peas - but you can always leave those out! 

When the pasta is cooked, drain - reserving 2 tablespoons of the cooking water. Return the drained pasta & peas to the pan, along with the cooking water. Stir in the cooked bacon/garlic, and then quickly stir in the egg/quark mix while the pasta is still hot. Keep stirring to ensure the pasta is evenly coated with the egg mixture and, if necessary,  put back over a low heat for a minute until the egg is cooked (but before it begins to turn into scrambled eggs!). Whilst the pasta is still hot, and to make it extra creamy, stir in two light Laughing Cow cheesy triangles until melted! 

Serve in hot pasta bowls, with a good sprinkle of parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. I had mine with a portion of steamed tenderstem broccoli, but a nice crispy side salad would be good. 

Enjoy! 

Back soon,

Kim