The zucchini carbonara spaghetti is the vegetarian answer to the more classic carbonara pasta, prepared with zucchini instead of guanciale.
What unites the two dishes is the famous “carbocream” prepared by mixing egg yolks, grated pecorino, and ground black pepper, following the rule: 1 yolk for each diner and 1 whole egg for the pan.
Needless to say, for an excellent result, it’s necessary to use high-quality and especially fresh ingredients, with particular attention to the eggs.
Now take a minute to read the recipe, and then…let’s cook and eat!!
See also
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 11.3 oz spaghetti
- 2 pcs dark zucchini
- 3.5 oz pecorino
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- to taste black pepper (ground)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- 1 Vegetable Spiralizer spiral
- 1 Frying Pan
- 1 Pot
- 1 Ladle for spaghetti
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Whisk
Steps
Preparing zucchini carbonara spaghetti is very easy and quick; you just need to apply some small tricks to achieve a tasty and especially creamy result.
First, put a pot with plenty of salted water on the stove to cook the spaghetti, and in the meantime, focus on the sauce.
Wash, trim, and cut the zucchini into slices, chunks, or, as I did, spiral using the appropriate vegetable cutter.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a pan, then add the zucchini and let them flavor for 5-6 minutes, also adding a pinch of salt.
As soon as the water starts to boil, drop the spaghetti in, and in the meantime, prepare the carbocream. In a bowl, gather the egg, the yolks, the grated pecorino, and a generous grind of black pepper. Use a whisk or fork to mix it well until you have a smooth cream.
When the spaghetti is al dente, use the appropriate ladle to transfer it to the pan with the zucchini and toss it to flavor.
At this point, turn off the heat, move the pan away from the stove, wait a few seconds for the pasta’s temperature to drop, then add the egg and pecorino cream.
Add a little of the pasta cooking water and toss the spaghetti in the pan again so that the carbocream can evenly season all the pasta.

