Gluten Free Kale & Wild Mushroom Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara #shortcuteggsperts

Creamy vegetarian spaghetti carbonara bulked up with fresh kale, wild mushrooms and green beans!  You won't even miss the pancetta!

Yield 4 servings

Kale & Wild Mushroom Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara 

This carbonara is so creamy and luscious and incredibly earthy. By now you probably know that we're bona fide carnivores in this house; munching on all the meats from pork to lamb to chicken, but every now and then it's nice to just have vegetables. My favorite thing about this dish is the kale. And then there's the mushrooms that have an earthy taste all their own. And then you get the tarragon. *swoon* If you've never had tarragon with mushrooms ... well, just try it. Tarragon and mushrooms go together like ketchup and mustard.

With all that earthiness going on, it's easy to miss the quiet superstar in a carbonara: the eggs. This recipe was adapted for the #shortcuteggsperts campaign from an asparagus carbonara recipe I saw. As an eggspert (see what we did there?), I'm going to be providing you with ideas for different ways you can use eggs throughout the year!

Yesterday, we had a recorded Google Hangouts session where a group of us eggsperts got together to chat about our ideas for using eggs in a main course. It was my on-air debut and just as it's my turn to speak my WiFi cut out. :( But, the rest of the conversation is really interesting and unique ideas for using eggs were thrown around. You can watch the hangout and listen to my deafening silence when it's my turn to speak on Youtube.

If you're jonesing for more vegetarian grub, you'll like this Pinterest board:

Ingredients:

For the kale & wild mushroom carbonara
1 tbsp + 1tsp tarragon
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp butter
2 shallots, diced
3 egg yolks + 1 egg
70g cream cheese
100g cavolo nero or other kale
150g mushrooms
150g gluten free spaghetti
200g green beans
Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Instructions:

Kale & Wild Mushroom Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara

1. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the shallots and garlic. Cook until the shallots are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and tarragon and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Continue to cook about three minutes then add the green beans.
2. Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet, usually in a pot of boiling water for 8 minutes.
3.  Beat the egg yolks with the egg in a separate bowl and beat in the cream cheese.
4. Tear the kale and add it to the pan with the green beans and the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and stir well to combine. Once the kale has begun cooking, add the spaghetti and remove the pan from the heat. After a few minutes, stir in the egg yolks and egg mixture.
5. Place the pan back on a low heat and gently warm through while stirring, until the sauce begins to thicken. Sprinkle with Parmesan and and the remaining teaspoon of tarragon and check the seasoning. Add salt or pepper if necessary.

Joining the kale craze? Hop on board:

Southern Smothered Pork Chops with Kale Crisps and Mustard Mash 

Gluten Free Chicken & Kale Noodle Soup