Vegetarian Tortiglioni Carbonara with Vegetables and Mushrooms

Step-by-step recipe

1. For tortiglioni carbonara with vegetables, use fresh seasonal vegetables that can easily be fried al dente. We chose zucchini and pattypan squash – they are firm and hold their shape well during cooking. We also added fresh button mushrooms – mushrooms always go well with fried vegetables. Young juicy carrots and shallots round out the dish nicely. The cheese is Parmesan or Pecorino, the two best cheeses for pasta. The eggs for carbonara sauce must be perfectly fresh, since they aren't cooked.
   
2. Peel the carrot and shallots. Of all the vegetables in the dish, the carrot is the hardest and needs the longest frying. Cut the shallots and carrot into thin strips. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry the carrot until soft. This usually takes 2-3 mins; then add the shallots, cut into strips or dice. Fry the vegetables until the shallots begin to caramelize slightly.
   
3. Wash the zucchini, pat dry and cut into thin strips, roughly the length of the tortiglioni you're using. Add the zucchini to the pan and fry everything together for 2-3 mins. Meanwhile, wash the mushrooms, slice them thinly and add to the vegetables. Mushrooms release their moisture quickly as they cook. Lower the heat to medium and, stirring, simmer the vegetables until the remaining liquid has evaporated.
   
4. Once the liquid has evaporated, the vegetables and mushrooms will start to fry. Keep stirring and frying the vegetable mixture until it begins to brown lightly. Then season everything with a pinch of salt. You can turn off the heat under the pan. While the vegetables for the carbonara are frying, cook the pasta. Tortiglioni usually take 11-12 mins. Cook for the time on the package and the pasta will be al dente; if you like it softer, cook 1-2 mins longer.
   
5. By the way, don't forget to save half a cup of the pasta cooking water. Make the egg yolk sauce. Since the vegetables are juicy, you don't need much of it. Separate the eggs – keep the whites for other dishes and put the yolks in a cup. Season the yolks with a pinch of fine salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper – from a pepper mill rather than a packet. Whisk the yolks, then add finely grated cheese and whisk again. Drain the tortiglioni in a colander, transfer them to the pan with the vegetables and add the egg sauce.
   
6. Toss the pasta and fried vegetables with the sauce. If the mixture turns out too thick, add the pasta water a little at a time. If you like, add more cheese – it will be even tastier. Divide the pasta with vegetables and carbonara sauce among plates and be sure to top with ground black pepper – it should stand out against the dish and, it's really true, it looks like coal dust.
   
7. You can use other vegetables in this dish if you like. Parsnip and celery root cut into thin strips work great. Although it's rare in the original versions of the dish (as are mushrooms), you can use broccoli, green beans and peas. The harder and more aged the cheese, the better. Besides Pecorino and Parmesan, Grana Padano and similar varieties, or cheese blends, will do.