Giada De Laurentiis’s Veggie-version of Carbonara Only Has Five Ingredients but Has So Much Flavor

Carbonara is one of those dishes that even vegetarians drool over. It’s creamy, salty, and loaded with black pepper and crispy guanciale (which can be replaced with pancetta or, if you’re in a pinch, bacon). Giada De Laurentiis just put a vegetarian spin on the classic Italian pasta dish that doesn’t hold back on the creaminess and still packs a punch without any meat involved.

“This veggie version of carbonara is sooo good & still has the rich creaminess of the classic carbonara we all know and love,” De Laurentiis captioned a September 26 Instagram video. Her food-centric account, Giadzy, also shared the video, adding, “This vegetarian version of classic carbonara still has the depth of flavor thanks to the browning of the zucchini!”

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And what’s even better is that the dish comes together in just about 15 to 20 minutes and only uses five ingredients: garlic, zuchinni, basil, eggs, and pasta (plus salt and pepper, of course).

This dish can be made with or without Pecorino Romano cheese depending on your vegetarian status. However, eggs are a must — they are the key to that creamy sauce. In the video, De Laurentiis shows how to properly temper the eggs using pasta water before they hit the pan so that you don’t end up with scrambled eggs in your pasta.

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And the key to getting that rich carbonara flavor is letting your zucchini get a bit crispy. The brown spots on the zucchini slices mimic the crispy guanciale bits of the traditional dish. So be patient, and let your zucchini do its thing.

This veggie carbonara is a great way to use up the remaining zucchini you grew in your garden this summer, and could also be a tasty base for more vegetarian pasta dishes. Add tomato or mushroom, for example, to get totally different flavors.

Grab the full recipe over on Giadzy and enjoy!

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