Pasta Carbonara Florentine

Hold the florentine.

I grew up eating pasta carbonara, as both my mom and grandma make it often, but I had never attempted the dish myself. I saw this recipe in a recent Cooking Light issue and saved it for a night when I just wanted to throw something together. This was one of those nights.

The only reason that the spinach is missing is because we only have half a bag left in the fridge and I know Nick will want a salad with it for lunch tomorrow. The spinach would be a great addition to this dish, but it was fabulous without it as well! The texture was perfectly creamy and the combination of onion and black pepper gave it a nice bite. Thumbs up :)

Pasta Carbonara Florentine
(from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 (6-oz) package bagged prewashed baby spinach
6 slices center-cut bacon, chopped
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 T. dry white wine (I omitted this)
8 oz. uncooked spaghetti (I used fettuccine)
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 T. chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
1) Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1/4 tsp salt and spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts, stirring constantly. Remove spinach from pan; place in a bowl.

2) Add bacon to pan; cook 3 minutes or until crisp, stirring frequently. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 tsp drippings in pan; set bacon aside. Add onion to drippings in pan; cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add wine; cook 1 minute or until liquid is reduced by half. (I omitted this step.) Remove from heat; keep warm.

3) Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well, reserving 1 T. cooking liquid. Immediately add pasta and the reserved cooking liquid to onion mixture in skillet. Add spinach and bacon; stir well to combine. Place skillet over low heat.

4) Combine remaining 1/4 tsp salt, cheese, pepper, egg, and egg white, stirring with a whisk. Add to pasta mixture, tossing well to coat. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately.