Ham and Zucchini Carbonara

Back into the swing of menu planning this week as I am back on my weight loss journey now that the silly season is officially over with the end being marked by my birthday on Saturday and the fact that I am also armed with a new cookbook, Weight Watchers Cook Simple, I decided we had to try this pasta dish which looked delish just looking at the picture.

My kids both adore pasta carbonara so I was interested to see how they would like the change of ingredients with using ham and zucchini as the base flavours. I have to say that like with normal Carbonara this recipe was very easy to make and very quick to cook, with the whole dish on the table in under 30 minutes.

I didn't find it neither as cheesy or as eggy as a normal carbonara but saying this the dish itself did have a really nice flavour and I really enjoyed the hint of nutmeg. The serving sizes are large and very filling. Overall it is a weeknight winner in our house.

Ham and Zucchini Carbonara
(recipe sourced from WW Cook Simple)

Serves: 4
ProPoints per serve: 10

250 grams spaghetti
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
150 grams sliced lean leg ham, fat trimmed, cut into thin strips
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 tablespoon cold water
1 cup evaporated skim milk
1 egg
25 grams finely grated parmesan cheese

salt

freshly ground black pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, following packet instructions, or until just tender. Drain and return to the pan.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large non stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softenend. Add garlic and zucchini and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until zucchini is just tender. Add ham and stir to combine.

Combine cornflour and water in a small bowl. Whisk milk, egg and parmesan in a medium jug. Add egg mixture and cornflour mixture to pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 2 - 3 minutes or sauce slightly thickens.

Add zucchini mixture to pasta. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Toss to combine. Serve.


As I mentioned I recently had a birthday - infact it was my 40th birthday and I only wanted one thing as a gift and that was a Canon Digital Camera. I set up a donation envelope system with my invitations and once my party was over I counted the money to find that I had enough money to buy the camera of my dreams - only problem was that the camera of my dreams was sold out so I had to settle for the next model up.... damn shame that.

Needless to say that I am now the very happy owner of a Canon EOS 60D complete with twin lenses!!


Now I am praying that photos of my food dishes will look much better now than using my small point and shoot that I have owned for years. I am pretty sure they will - please let me know what you think.

(click here for a printable version of this recipe)