Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Recipe: Skinny Carbonara from {Everyday Super Food by Jamie Oliver}

Today sees the publication of Jamie Oliver’s brand new cookbook Everyday Super Food and I’ve been busy trying out some of the recipes for myself at home, beginning with Jamie’s Skinny Carbonara.

If you’ve been following Jamie on Instagram or on the You app, you’ll have noticed that this is the year he turned 40. He himself has enjoyed making some simple lifestyle changes, for example, by practicing mindfulness and by making some changes to his diet and lifestyle. Everyday Super Food is really his ultimate manifesto for helping you do the same.

I have four copies of Jamie’s new book to giveaway (see entry form below) with the recipe for Jamie’s Skinny Carbonara also shared below with the publisher’s permission.

Every Day Super Food

The Skinny Carbonara was very tasty and quick to make – fifteen minutes at most. I didn’t see any instructions for juicing the lemon and I ended up adding in the juice of one whole lemon. Next time, I would use the juice of half a lemon. I had quite a lot of pea mixture left over, so blitzed it up with some chicken stock and had a an extra cup of pea soup for lunch the next day. The whole family enjoyed it and the addition of peas and ground almonds gave the dish an extra lift and a bit of texture, along with the crispy bacon. Nobody noticed the wholewheat spaghetti so that’s a permanent switch for us in the future!

I can’t wait to try the Mega Veggie Burger featured by Helen here, or the Baked Eggs with Popped Beans that Katherine tried here. I’m also looking forward to trying Jamie’s Grilled Corn and Quinoa Salad, shared by The Happy Foodie.

Skinny Carbonara Ren Behan
My version of the tasty Skinny Carbonara recipe from the book

The book ties in with a new six-part Channel 4 series, Jamie’s Super Food, due to broadcast this autumn and you can buy the book from today.

Print

SKINNY CARBONARA SMOKY BACON, PEAS, ALMONDS & BASIL

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 2

Humble little peas are a source of nine different micronutrients, and are especially high in thiamin, a B vitamin that helps our hearts to function properly

Ingredients

  • 200g freshly podded or frozen peas
  • 1 tablespoon flaked almonds
  • 1 small clove of garlic
  • ½ a bunch of fresh basil (15g)
  • 15g Parmesan cheese
  • 1 lemon
  • 150g wholewheat spaghetti
  • 1 rasher of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
  • olive oil
  • 1 large free-range egg
  • 100g fat-free natural yoghurt

Instructions

  1. Put a pan of boiling salted water on the heat for your pasta, dunk a sieve containing the peas into the water for just 30 seconds, then put aside, leaving the pan on the heat.
  2. Very lightly toast the almonds in a dry non-stick frying pan on a medium heat, then blitz until fine in a food processor. With the processor still running, peel and drop in the garlic, a pinch of sea salt, the basil leaves, the finely grated Parmesan and the lemon juice. Blitz until it comes together, then pulse in the peas, to try and keep a bit of texture.
  3. Cook the pasta in the boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, very finely slice the bacon and fry slowly in the frying pan with 1 teaspoon of oil on a medium-low heat until golden and crispy, then use a slotted spoon to transfer to kitchen paper, so the flavoursome fat stays in the pan.
  4. Scoop in three-quarters of your pea mixture to heat through.
  5. Whisk the egg and yoghurt together well. When the pasta’s done, reserving a mugful of cooking water, drain the pasta and toss straight into the pea pan, mixing well, then take the pan off the heat (this is very important, otherwise the egg will scramble when you add it, and we don’t want that).
  6. Pour in the egg mixture and toss until evenly coated, silky and creamy, loosening with cooking water if needed. Taste and season to perfection, and serve topped with the remaining pea mixture and the crispy bacon.
  7. It might be skinny, but it’s beautifully light and delicious. Enjoy!

Courses Healthy

Cuisine Italian

 

Skinny Carbonara
Jamie’s Skinny Carbonara {Image from the book, taken by Jamie Oliver}

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Everyday Super Food by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House

ⓒ Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2015 Everyday Super Food) Photographer: Jamie Oliver

With thanks to Jamie’s PR team for the recipes, previews and review copy in the post.

About Ren

Ren Behan is a British-born food writer of Polish descent. She is a mum to three young children (13, 10 and 5) and spends lots of time with them in the kitchen. Ren writes about seasonal, family-friendly food on her blog www.renbehan.com. She also contributes recipes and articles to online and print food publications, such as Food52.com, GreatBritishChefs.com, Huff Post Food and JamieOliver.com. She holds a Diploma in Food Journalism with Distinction and has completed a Food Styling course at Leiths School of Food and Wine.

Ren’s cookbook, Wild Honey and Rye: Modern Polish Recipes, draws upon her Polish heritage and regular travels to Poland.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Made this tonight! Totally agree that a while lemon is too much! Wish I’d come across your comments before.

    Reply

  4. My favorite book of Jamie’s is his the return of the naked chef book. Because it includes my favourite recipe of his the farfelle with savoy cabbage, pancetta, thyme and mozerella.
    delicious! 🙂

    Reply

  10. Watched the first Jamie’s Superfood last night. Really good and some great recipes. Will defo have to have a look at the book. Also his sugar rush documentary that was on a few nights ago was brilliant and eye opening!

    Reply

  17. I love his slow cooked spiced lamb shanks – one of the first meals I cooked for my husband many years ago when we were dating

    Reply

  42. I’ve recently been using wholewheat pasta and brown rice and I think they actually taste nicer and have a pleasant, sort of nutty, texture. To my delight, my normally very-fussy husband, hasn’t complained either!

    Reply

  49. My favourite recipe of Jamie’s is Baked chicken curry.
    It’s really tasty and flavoursome. A family fav

    Reply

  50. My current favourite Jamie book is his saving money one. I like the ideas he gives for leftovers and using one main piece of meat for several different meals.

    Reply

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