Carbonara Breakfast Pasta

I grew up on Italian food, but my family did not make pasta carbonara. The dish comes from the Lazio region, and my ancestors immigrated from Salerno and Sicily, so for 20 years or so, I missed out on eating carbonara! And Breakfast Carbonara wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye!

The first time I travelled to Europe, I fell head over heels with Spaghetti alla Carbonara. I unabashedly ate it in every town I visited in Italy, and I even managed to find it in Switzerland.

However, I never had a breakfast carbonara, as it is not on any Italian breakfast menu.

While Italian cuisine is one of the best in the world, Italian breakfasts are among the worst, in my opinion. Typical Italian breakfast items are pretty lackluster, like rolls or bread with jam and coffee, and usually do not contain eggs.

Yet, Italians do use eggs a lot in lunches, dinners, and snacks. You’ll see eggs on pizza or pasta with a raw egg on top. And that’s how I came up with this breakfast idea. And now Breakfast Carbonara is a regular on my breakfast menu!

The traditional main ingredients of Carbonara are cured pork (most often guanciale or pancetta), hard cheese (Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano), black pepper, and egg.

I have been told by Italian chefs that spaghetti carbonara with cream, and pasta carbonara with peas are not authentic recipes. Nor is a carbonara sauce. The “sauce” basically makes itself when the hot pasta is tossed with the yolk and the cheese. If you order a Carbonara in Italy, you may get a raw egg yolk on top— just mix it into your pasta!

For this Breakfast Carbonara, I tried to make it a little healthier and lower in fat by using ham. Carbonara always feels so decadent; I wanted the flavors without regretting my breakfast choice!

When I first made this meal, I had leftover orecchiette pasta in the fridge, and I think that worked really well instead of the more traditional spaghetti, but feel free to use any type of pasta with this dish. I highly recommend the optional Truffle Salt in this recipe, but I happen to be addicted.

Carbonara Breakfast Pasta Recipe

Servings: 2

Ingredients
1 teaspoon Omega-3 spread, like Smart Balance
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups cooked pasta
2 oz. ham, chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon truffle salt (optional)
1 tablespoon Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Instructions
1. Melt the Omega-3 spread in a pan.
2. On one side of the pan, crack your eggs and place them as if you were making sunny side up eggs. It is ok if they touch.
3. On the other side of the pan, add the pasta, and put the ham on top of the pasta. Stir the pasta and ham until the eggs are ready for Step 4.
4. When the whites of the eggs are about halfway cooked, stir them into the egg and ham mixture.
5. Add the pepper and the truffle salt.
6. When the egg is completely cooked, add the Parmigiano Reggiano and serve hot.

Tips
1. You can use regular parmesan cheese instead of the Parmigiano Reggiano.
2. Any cured pork like bacon or pancetta would be good here, but if you want a healthier version, stick to the ham, or use turkey bacon.

If you like this breakfast idea, you may also enjoy:
Loaded Potato Breakfast Skillet
Green Eggs and Ham
Crustless Potato Quiche with Broccoli and Cheddar
Low Carb Chicken Cordon Blue