A very simple first course to make, but really tasty and full of color… pasta with carrot cream and bacon, ready in a few minutes, perfect for lunch. The carrot cream is prepared raw, blending carrots with a handful of almonds, salt, pepper, oil, and optionally Parmesan. I added some smoked bacon strips, browned in a pan, which goes perfectly with the sweet taste of carrots… however, if you want a vegetarian dish you can omit it without problems. Try this recipe, it’s very easy but full of flavor!
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 362.88 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 33.15 (g) of which sugars 4.35 (g)
- Proteins 15.60 (g)
- Fat 18.49 (g) of which saturated 3.93 (g)of which unsaturated 5.93 (g)
- Fibers 4.42 (g)
- Sodium 855.76 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 6 oz pasta
- 6 oz carrots
- 1.75 oz smoked bacon
- 0.5 oz blanched almonds
- extra virgin olive oil (or seed oil)
- salt
- pepper
- basil
- Grana Padano cheese (to taste)
Tools
- Pan
- Mixer
- Pot
- Colander
- Vegetable Peeler
Preparation
Peel the carrots, cut them into pieces and place them in a mixer, along with the almonds. Finely chop them, adding the oil gradually, until you get a thick cream. To help you, and to avoid using too much oil, you can also add a bit of water.
Transfer the carrot cream to a bowl, adjust with salt and pepper, and add some grated Parmesan if you like.
Cut the bacon into strips and brown it in a pan, without adding oil. Move it to a paper towel, so it remains crispy, and remove the remaining fat from the bottom.
Boil the pasta in salted boiling water, drain it, and put it in the pan. Add the carrot cream, bacon, and some basil leaves. Stir for a minute or two over medium heat, adding some cooking water to bind the pasta to the sauce.
The pasta with carrot cream and bacon is ready, serve it on plates and serve hot… enjoy your meal!
Tips and Notes
You can blanch the carrots in salted water before blending them. You can replace the almonds with walnuts or hazelnuts. You can add half a clove of garlic if you like.
You can omit the bacon, or replace it with speck.
If you have leftover carrot cream, you can store it in the refrigerator, in a well-closed container, for a couple of days.
You can use short or long pasta, of the format you prefer. In this case, I used linguine.
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