a red bowl containing spaghettini with bacon and greens

Spring Greens Carbonara

Cooking with Jane, Recipes, , ,

IT’S HERE! WE’VE ARRIVED! 🎉

Farmer Emily and the crew are already pulling out all the stops with the sheer volume and gloriousness of these spring greens. The first few weeks of fresh lettuce and mustard and baby kale are such a refreshing gift!

If you haven’t made a carbonara before, they are generally pretty cheesy bacony situations. Adding the bright and bitter mustard greens, along with a few handfuls of baby kale, cuts the richness down and adds nuance to the flavour. It’s just a touch fancier than your most basic pasta without adding a lot of steps or dishes, so it makes for a bit of a showy dinner! It also freezes well, reheats well, tastes good cold, and makes for a hearty lunch leftover. Midweek, we know that’s a priority. Hope you enjoy!

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Spring Greens Carbonara

Ingredients

  • salt and ground pepper
  • some bacon (optional)
  • 1 onion peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1 to 2 bags of mustard greens and/or baby kale
  • 2-3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice plus more to taste
  • enough pasta for 4-6 servings

Instructions

  1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Chop up bacon, if relevant, into little chunks. Toss into a skillet or cast iron pan and cook til crispy, adding onions about halfway through and regularly draining fat. Sauté stirring occasionally, until soft and just turning to color, 7 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop or chiffonade the greens.

  2. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the onions and stir for 30 seconds. Transfer the bacon and onions out of the pan, leaving a bit of the fat. Add all of the greens. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until greens shrink way down—use tongs to flip the greens around and help them wilt. Season with a pinch of salt. Turn off the heat.

  3. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to desired texture. Reserve ½ cup (or more) of the pasta cooking liquid. In a medium bowl or liquid measure, whisk together eggs, parmesan, and juice. Whisk ¼ cup pasta water into egg mixture.

  4. Drain pasta and immediately add to the pan with the greens. Add the bacon and onions (if relevant) back. Pour egg mixture into pan and toss with tongs to combine, turning heat to low or medium if greens have cooled way down. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more lemon or more of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to taste. Sprinkle pasta with more cheese if desired and serve immediately.