DESCRIPTION
Pasta Carbonara is a classic Italian dish where the heat from cooked pasta turns an egg and cheese mixture into a sauce. This version uses Greek yogurt for extra protein and health. It’s ready quickly and uses ingredients that you probably already have on hand!
Ingredients
Scale
- 12 oz. of uncooked whole wheat linguine, fettuccine or spaghetti
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 6 oz. (170g) ham, chopped*
- 1/2 oz. (about 1/2 of a cup, unpacked) finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to serve at the table
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. However, just before you drain it scoop out at least 1 cup of the hot pasta water.
- While the pasta is cooking, fill a kettle with water and bring it to a boil. Empty the boiling water from the kettle into a large bowl.
- A couple of minutes before your pasta has reached the desired doneness, dispose of the hot water from your large bowl by pouring it down the sink. (It was only there to warm up the bowl, so you don’t need that water anymore).
- To that large warmed bowl, add the yogurt, ham, Parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper.
- Stir it around and then crack in your eggs. Whisk it all together with a fork.
- Don’t forget, before the pasta is cooked, scoop 1 cup of the pasta water out of your pasta pot. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and then immediately add the hot noodles to your egg mixture.
- Stir the pasta into the yogurt sauce. You want all the noodles to be coated a bit with the sauce. If the sauce seems too thick, drizzle in some of your reserved pasta water, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until you get the right consistency.
- Divide the pasta among plates and sprinkle with more Parmesan, if desired.
Notes
*Note: This recipe originally called for 6 ounces of Canadian bacon, chopped. I changed it to ham in 2021 because it works just as well and we’re all more likely to have ham in our fridge than Canadian bacon. However, you can use Canadian bacon, or crisped up bacon (4 slices) if you’d like. Make sure that you check your package to see if your ham or Canadian bacon requires heating before eating.