Ella Kitto's Kentish Swede “Carbonara” for February

A great recipe for using up, and disguising, an unloved swede!

This (unauthentic!) recipe is inspired by Anna Jones’ wonderful recipe for, “A Smokey swede carbonara”. I’ve added bacon and parsley, and used different pasta. The swede adds a lovely nuttiness! 

Try a British-made pasta to reduce your food miles, if you can - there are some excellent options out there! I used the Yorkshire Pasta Co. Casarecce, which held the sauce nicely. 

[serves 2]

Ingredients 

• Pasta of your choice (approx. 60g per person) 
• 1 tbsp Kentish Oils rapeseed oil 
• 2 rashers Park Farm dry cure bacon rashers, chopped into little lardon-sized pieces 
• Approx. 1/3 of a swede, chopped into little pieces - a similar size to the bacon bits 
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 free-range Woodlands Farm egg yolks 
• 30g strong hard cheese, such as the Cheesemakers of Canterbury Ancient Ashmore Farmhouse Cheddar, grated 
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley 
• Black pepper, freshly ground (you don’t need salt if using bacon)

Method

• Heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat and bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil.
• Mix most of the cheese into the egg yolks and add the black pepper. Set aside. 
• Begin to cook the pasta as per the packet cooking instructions.
• Add the smoked bacon pieces to the oil. Just as they start to colour and cook through, add the swede pieces and stir to coat in the tasty bacon fat.
• When the swede starts to caramelise and crisp up, add the garlic to the pan. Keep everything moving so it crisps up evenly. If you’re not a fan of swede, you’ll be pleased to see it starting to become indistinguishable from the lardons at this point! 
• Once the pasta is cooked, drain some of the starchy water into a jug and set aside. Then fully drain the pasta.
• Add the bacon, swede and garlic into the pasta, along with the juices from the pan, and mix to evenly distribute.
• Add the egg mixture and mix quickly to coat. Carefully add the pasta water as you’re mixing until you’re happy with the texture - it should homogenise and create a thick silky sauce that clings to the pasta.
• Serve topped with the remaining cheese, some chopped parsley and a final grating of black pepper.
• Enjoy!