Portobello and Leek Carbonara.
Now this is what I like to see.
Eggs and bacon… not being used in breakfast.
I mean, don’t get me wrong – I find bacon and eggs in the AM to be one of life’s simple pleasures. I adored the Sunday mornings while I was growing up that my mom would make a “big” breakfast with all the good stuff, which is seriously saying a lot since the only things I really adored at that time were my hair crimper (still got it) and my hot pink (like, literally HOT pink) fanny pack.
Crimping hair was such a total pain because you had to do it piece by piece and layer by layer and it never was even and what SEEMED like would totally turn out to be Seventeen magazine material, really yielded just one massive fro. And that whole fanny pack thing? Please tell me WHAT I carried in there at age 8 besides three crusty lip glosses and my Nano pet. I always wonder this when I see super young girls with purses strapped across their chest. What did we keep in there that was just so… necessary?! Total child of the 90s problem.
I can tell you one thing though… pasta made with raw eggs would have never graced our dinner table in my youth. I feel extremely deprived. I always prayed I’d wake up Italian. Not joking.
Last year sometime, a mucked-up version (read: whatever ingredients lived in my fridge) of carbonara became one of my go-to meals while my husband traveled for work. This is sorta huge since my other go-to meals when the cat’s away are like, wine, cheese, crackers and wine. Sometimes together, sometimes not.
So while I feasted on pasta laced with bacon every other month or so, I never actually made it for that guy in my life. I knew he wouldn’t eat it just as is – “where’s the meat?” he’d whine while I simultaneously rolled my eyes. Apparently, bacon doesn’t qualify as meat for him. what.ever. And to make some chicken and throw it in the pasta and make more of a mess and blah blah blah… just too much going on.
But last week changed all that, as I declared while on a little evening stroll that I was surely “making pasta carbonara tonight!” Since I don’t ever do anything I say I’m going to do, I didn’t do it. But I had an excellent reason as I had some cream that needed to be used or losed (yes losed) and then I accidentally deglazed the pan with cognac. Accidentally. Not gonna work with carbonara. That pasta totally DID have portobellos and leeks strewn throughout, and it was excellently devoured in minutes which led to a quite similar meal being made the next night. Like this one. Total flavor explosion.
Give me bacon or give me death.
Portobello and Leek Carbonara
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
- 2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and patted dry
- 12 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, quartered
- 1/2 pound whole wheat linguine
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring water for pasta to a boil.
- Heat a large skillet oven medium heat and add bacon. Cook until fat is rendered and bacon is crispy – about 6-7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain. Reduce heat to low.
- Add in leeks with a pinch of salt, then toss mushrooms on top. Stir everything together to coat, then let cook until ingredients are softened – about 5 minutes. At this time, throw the pasta in the water to cook – it is really important that the pasta is hot. While the pasta is cooking, mix eggs and cheese together in a large bowl. The mixture will be thick.
- As soon as pasta is finished, reserve 1/2-3/4 cup liquid, drain pasta and immediately throw into the skillet. Toss with the leeks and mushrooms to coat, then remove from heat. With a large spoon in one hand, add the egg mixture right on top and immediately begin stirring the pasta together. I usually stir for a good minute or two. At this time if desired, add the pasta water to the skillet to make things a bit more creamy and saucy. Toss in bacon. Serve immediately with extra cheese!
Notes
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Put this in your Monday and eat it.
119 Comments on “Portobello and Leek Carbonara.”
Oh this looks incredible – don’t smite me, but do you think that eggs and a nutritional yeast mixture will work just as well?
I definitely think it’s a possibility… I am obsessed with nutritional yeast but haven’t tried that. The only concern of mine is the texture difference between it and the parmesan… so I’m not sure of amounts, etc.
There isn’t much better in life than a big bowl of pasta carbonara. Love the addition of leeks too.
Jess – this. is. incredible. I love everything about it – going on the list this week!
Oh my goodness–this is pasta heaven!
Wow, this looks fabulous! That 3rd picture from the top is absolutely stunning! I want to eat everything! :-P
The pictures. Oh my gosh. So so beautiful. Raw eggs never looked so good.
this pasta dish looks incredible Jessica… so many great flavors all in one. i just love portobellos. and your pictures, as always, are beautiful!
jealous!! i always wanted my own hair crimper!
It was… in a word… AMAZING.
Looks awesome! The one time I tried making carbonara, I ended up with bits of scrambled eggs … despite stirring really fast when I added the eggs. Any thoughts?? Or perhaps I should just stick to ordering my carbonara from a restaurant … ? ;)
Hmmm did you remove the pan from the heat before adding the eggs? I was always worried about that but it’s never happened for me. I think it always help to also have a fairly large pan/pot, so you can really stir quickly. Another thing is to make sure the veg/pasta is on the bottom of the skillet so when the egg is added, it hits that instead of the bottom of the hot pan. And then just stir, stir, stir quickly!
Thanks for taking the time to write out that whole reply, Jessica! I really appreciate it. I do think you’re right about removing the pan from the heat before adding the eggs. I did not do that. My other issue was that the recipe I used made A TON of pasta, so although I used a big pan, it wasn’t big enough … so it was slopping all over the place when I was trying to stir. ;) Maybe I’ll get brave enough to give it another shot. Thanks again for your suggestions! :)
Yum! I love carbonara, and this version looks so delicious!
Ditto on the lip glosses and Nano pets. Mine were Bonne Bell Lip Smackers and I had some sort of strange affinity with the lime sparkly one that made my lips look like they were completely frostbitten in a gooey sort of way. Eww. Oh, and instead of the pink fanny pack, my bag of choice was those mini backpack things that were so cool back then. Ohhhh the 90s.
Sometimes I look at my own ten ton purse and wonder… what do I have to have in here that is so necessary? Bahaha. Anyways, this pasta obviously looks amazing.
I still do that as well. It’s sad.
But not sad enough to make me clean it out.
OMG everytime I read ur blog I want to run to the kitchen and make whatever u did!!! This dish is amazing!!
Oh my goodness…I always wanted to be Italian, too! :) And, I could totally eat this for breakfast right now. It looks amazing!
Yes, please!!! Eggs and bacon for ANY meal! ;-)
So that miniature plate in your picture is an appetizer portion, yes? Because in my life, carbonara goes hand in hand with a 2 quart sized bowl, a fork and elastic pants.
Just me?
Amen! Glad I’m not the only one :-)
Obviously an app!
This looks incredible!!! :D
this looks awesome!
also, I just saw this food and wine slide show and after my head exploded, I thought of you :) Healthy Bacon Recipes? deam.come.true.
http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/healthy-bacon-recipes?xid=DISHA041612HealthyBaconRecipes
Oh my.
Thank you, thank you, thank you…for making carbonara the RIGHT way. If I see someone put cream in it one more time I will scream! This look FABULOUS!! :-)
Love how piled that plate is with pasta! Nano pets…ahhhhahahaaa
You literally combined 5 of my favorite things in one dish. I’ve never tried carbonara before, maybe it’s time to do something new! And, speaking of new, if you loved you’re hair crimper I’m curious if you’ve seen those three-barrel wavers? They’re like a grown up crimper. So much fun! Such big hair!
I bought one of those a few years ago and agree – it was really fun! Still just so time consuming – at least for me because I have a lot of hair!
anything with leeks totally wins my heart…they’re so buttery!
OMG! This is exactly my kind of dinner!!
This looks like perfection. I loooove pasta carbonara and I bet it’s even more amazing with mushrooms. Deeeelish!
Bacon AND mushrooms? I’m in!
Thinks looks incredible. I love carbonara but have never been able to make it successfully. I also love mushrooms (which my fiancee does not) but he can pick his out! ;) This recipe may be a reason to try again! :)
My mom would make legit carbonara at least 3-4 times a month growing up so I always thought it was just a “normal” pasta dish until I got to college and realized most people don’t think the whole raw egg thing + pasta is ok. They obviously don’t know what they’re missing. Adding portobellos and leeks is just icing on an already delicious cake :)
i just died and went to pasta heaven.
Did you know that today is national Day of the Mushroom Day! I am posting about it in about 10 mins with shroomy recipes :)
This looks so good. Love the 1st pic; stunning with the black background and contrast from the yellow in the egg and green leeks.
This looks and sounds amazingly delicious. Love how you displayed this pasta. When I try to swirl pasta on a plate like that it looks like one of those balls made with rubber bands.
You’ve taken me back in time with your crimper, fanny pack and Seventeen magazine. If you had mentioned basting in bain de soleil mega tan with the radio blaring, the transportation would have been complete! Back to today … your pasta dish looks wonderful. The 14 year old me wouldn’t have eaten the potobellos and leeks, but the 43 year old me thinks it sounds like perfection! Thanks for sharing.
~Caroline
i am ALL ABOUT bacon & eggs not in breakfast!! recently made a risotto featuring bacon and eggs inspired by a restaurant dish i had…it was not a bad idea! :)
happy Monday!
Wow, I know a lot of folks that will love this! I love mushrooms too. YUM. Thanks Jessica. :) Have a great Monday.
Love carbonara! Thank you for sharing!
Mmmm yum. I love carbonara! I just posted a pasta carbonara recipe on my page. Great minds think alike! :)
Was that a subtle Downton Abbey reference at the end?? “Put that in your pipe and smoke it!”
wow.. this looks amazing.. and so do your photos. Wish I could eat some right. now.
OMG- I sort of need this in my belly-STAT!
Ok when are we going to see a cookbook, because I need somewhere better than Pinterest and bookmarks to store all these recipes :) Ahh and I’m trying to block the fanny pack from my memory, especially since it paired it with white Keds and hot pink socks.
That was supposed to be “I paired it”! Can’t type today :)
I really need to snuggle that right now.
I am in loooooove!!
Your photos are so good, I’m sure you could make anything and I’d want to eat it…
This looks good!
BTW I really like your blog, it reminds me of Joy the Baker…and I love her recipes!
Your pictures are awesome! How do you get your pasta so beautifully tangled without it looking like a clumpy mess? Just curious. Anyhow, I don’t remember what I was sporting in my fanny pack, but I know I was probably wearing it with some awesome stretch pants:)
This is one of my favorites for those ‘Uh oh what’s for dinner?’ moments. Easy, elegant, delicious.
Made it this evening – it was really wonderful. Thank you for posting it!
So glad you liked it!
I have something similar on the menu for tomorrow night. This looks so delicious. Crave worthy! I, thankfully, was not a fanny pack wearer.
Carbonara is one of my absolute favorite quick dinners. The addition of leeks and mushrooms sounds lovely!
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I made this for dinner last night and it was amazing! I switched the leeks for shallots and used capellini. Drooling just thinking about it.