That bowl of creamy, carby heaven is the fat-pants counterpart to the zucchini noodle recipe that I posted last week.
It’s our favorite carbonara recipe, slimmed down, and then bulked up with a bunch of asparagus.
When the first wave of spring asparagus hit the market at .98/lb, I hoarded stocked up. I roasted two pans on the weekend for side dishes throughout the week and breakfast. Because wo eggs over a pile of asparagus is one of my favorite breakfast ever.
And while you’re drooling over asparagus carbonara, be sure to check out this version if you’re a goat cheese fan.
Asparagus Carbonara

Asparagus replaces half of the pasta in this lighter, spring carbonara recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta (I used thin spaghetti)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 4 slices of bacon, cut into cubes
- 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 large bunch asparagus (~1.25lb)
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of pasta water before draining.
- Trim woody ends from asparagus stalks and cut the remaining stalks into ~3-inch pieces.
- Heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook bacon pieces to a crisp and remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
- Add black pepper and cook for two minutes.
- Add asparagus and cook ~5 minutes, until fork tender, stirring occasionally.
- Whisk egg, yolk, 2/3 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup very hot pasta water in the bowl with the bacon.
- Add drained pasta, scrape the contents from the asparagus pan into the bowl (oil, pepper, and asparagus), and toss, adding splashes of reserved pasta water to create a creamy sauce.
- Serve topped with extra Parmesan.
Notes
Yields: 4 servings
Estimated time: 30 minutes
I found what to cook tonight, thanks 🙂 Seems yummy…
Confession – I’ve never had carbonara but I’m definitely trying this recipe. Looks great!!! A friend of ours grows asparagus so as soon as he cuts it I’m making this.