 |
| Recipe by Anne Aobadia for Diet Doctor Photo by Naomi Shermanon |
I have been keeping my eye on the Keto diet craze for awhile. Several friends have used it to drop some serious weight. I personally feel it is a bit restrictive for me - each to their own.
I don't think I will ever cut all carbs out of my diet. Instead I hold to the truism of all things in moderation. That said, I am certainly open to recipes that cut my carb and gluten consumption down as I am trying to drop a few pounds.
On that note, I did a web search recently for a few recipes. They had to offer a dish I thought my husband might embrace as well. There were lots to choose from, in fact I settle on 3. This is the first and it's from a site called the Diet Doctor.
After making it for supper the other night, I'll probably make some changes if I make it again. I am a huge vegetable consumer, but not so big on fat consumption in general - something that seems prevalent in Keto cooking.
I made some changes to make it a little less rich. I used half and half instead of heavy cream and substituted a lower fat turkey bacon for regular bacon, which also meant no bacon fat. For my mayo I chose Avocado Mayo. You could also use Olive Oil Mayo if you wanted, but I have been using the Avocado Mayo now for a few weeks now and have come to really like it. Other than that, I only made a few changes to the order things were done and combined to suit my cooking style.
First I want to say I thought the flavour was quite good. And I really adore Zoodles, so didn't miss the regular pasta. Using half yellow and half green zucchini also added a nice colour to the final dish. BUT, and this is a personal but, between the half and half and 4 egg yolks, I still found it way too rich and heavy for my taste.
So I'll be definitely making this again, but will be cutting back the fat content even more. If it turns out well, I'll come back and add notes on what I did for anyone like me who loves the flavour of rich food, but find it too heavy on a daily basis.
Enjoy!
= = = =
Zucchini Pasta Carbonara (Keto Recipe)
Ingredients
1¼ cups heavy whipping cream (I used half and half)
1 tbsp butter
10 oz. bacon or pancetta, diced (I used Turkey Bacon and skipped the bacon fat)
¼ cup mayonnaise (I used Avocado Mayo, could also use Olive Oil Mayo)
salt and pepper
2 lbs zucchini (I used a mix of yellow and green for color)
4 egg yolks
3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese, some more for serving
Instructions
In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add bacon to the pan, frying until crispy. Set bacon aside. Keep the fat warm in the pan, on lowest setting. (Note - since I subbed turkey bacon, I baked it in the oven on a cookie sheet and then cut into bite-size pieces)
Make spirals of the zucchini with a spiralizer. If you don't have a spiralizer you can make thin zucchini strips with a potato peeler. Place zoodles in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, until warmed through, yet have a fresh, crispy texture. If you don't want to microwave, you can boil the zoodles in hot water for 30 seconds.
Pour the heavy cream into a sauce pan, and bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat to medium low, and let boil for a few minutes until reduced by a fourth. Whisk the mayonnaise into the heavy cream. Salt and pepper to taste, and cook until mayonnaise is warmed through. Reduce temperature to low, stirring occasionally. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, diced bacon and Parmesan cheese. (Note - I added the egg mixture in here whisking while adding and until warmed through and slightly thickened. I had more control, but you have to whisk constantly. Option they used is below.)
Add the bacon fat (skipped this) and the warm cream sauce to the zoodles, tossing together until zoodles are completely coated. Ensure that this mixture is slightly warm, and then add the egg-bacon-Parmesan cheese mixture to the zoodles (I added above), tossing all together (the egg mixture will scramble if too warm when combining).
Divide between four plates (or 3 if you want larger servings). Top with a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan.
Comments
Post a Comment