Lemony Carbonara | Make it a Mushroom Moment

Lemony Carbonara

Ingredients

  • 400g Chestnut Mushrooms
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic
  • Handful of Parsley
  • Handful of Thyme
  • 50g Parmesan
  • 50g Pecorino
  • 5 Egg Yolks
  • 1 Lemon
  • 20g Butter
  • 450g Conchiglie
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Method

  1. First, prep your Ingredients. Quarter your mushrooms and finely chop your garlic and parsley.
  2. Remove your thyme leaves from their sprigs – you should have about 1 tbsp of leaves.Grate your parmesan and pecorino.Bring a large pan of water to a boil, then season liberally with salt. Add your pasta and cook according to packet instructions, until al dente.
  3. In a medium sized bowl, egg yolks – save your egg whites for use at a later date. Add your parmesan and pecorino and zest your lemon into the mixture. Grate in lots of black pepper, thenstir to combine.
  4. Heat a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add a large knob of butter to tha pan and,once melted, tip your mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid and started to caramelise. Add yor garlic and thyme and cook out for a minute, ensuring it doesn’t burn.
  5. Drain your pasta, reserving the pasta water, then tip it into the pan along with a ladle of pasta water and toss together so that the mixture is totally combined. Turn the heat off in your pan, then add your egg mixture. Mix together in the pan, letting the residual heat from the pasta cook your egg mixture until you have a silky pasta that coats each shell, adding more pasta water where needed.
  6. Add a handful of chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice, then give it one last stir.
  7. Serve topped with more cracked black pepper and some parmesan.