Today I faced a challenge; my roommate had used a few egg whites and left me the yolks so that I could be creative. After looking at my ingredients, I realized I had most of the things to make a traditional carbonara sauce. However, I didn’t have any kind of pork meat, but I did have mushrooms; thus, I decided to make it vegetarian.
I’m also happy to announce that I released a free tool for writing recipes easily and quickly. It uses GPT technology to auto-complete the steps and the ingredients, so the only thing left for the user is proofreading and adjusting the quantities. Writing this recipe took me less than 3 minutes, and it looks great.
There are two significant deviations from the traditional carbonara sauce. First, I substituted guanciale for olive oil and mushrooms, which increased the dish’s umami. Second, I added cayenne pepper, garlic, and lemon zest for additional flavor and a bright finish.
Enjoy!
Vegetarian Rigatoni Carbonara
Vegetarian twist to the traditional pasta carbonara.
Ingredients
- salt, to taste.
- 90 g rigatoni.
- 4 medium mushrooms, sliced.
- 1 tbsp olive oil.
- 2 cloves garlic.
- cayenne pepper, to taste.
- 2 egg yolks.
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, plus extra for plating.
- black pepper, to taste.
- 1 tbsp lemon zest.
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, In a skillet, sweat your mushrooms over low fire, about 6 minutes.
- Add to the skillet the olive oil, garlic, and cayenne pepper, stir and cook until fragrant.
- In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolks, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper.
- Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta and the reserved cooking liquid to the skillet with the mushrooms.
- Turn off the fire, and add the egg mixture and lemon zest to the skillet and toss to combine, the sauce will slowly thicken as the eggs start to cook. Serve the pasta with extra Parmesan cheese on top, if desired.
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