Light Shrimp Carbonara

It was the boys' last dinner with us for spring break and I let them choose what they wanted to eat.  I was hoping pizza or something easy to...pick up.  The insisted on carbonara.  I've made this basic pasta dish for years, using bacon, pancetta or even spam!  My old recipe used 2 lbs of pasta, oil, garlic, a can of spam or half a pound of bacon, 4 eggs, a cup of heavy cream, a cup and a half of grated Parmesan.  I lightened it up this time and the kids LOVED it.

Light Shrimp Carbonara

8 oz whole wheat spaghetti

12 oz of precooked frozen shrimp, thawed

1 slice of bacon, cut into 1/8th inch pieces

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1/3 c ready to eat bacon bits ( Hormel or Oscar Mayer)

1/2 c grated Parmesan

2 eggs

salt and pepper

Cook pasta as directed and set aside.  Heat frying pan and put in bacon and garlic.  Saute for 2 or 3 minutes until the grease starts to cook out of the bacon a bit.  Add the cooked spaghetti.  Toss occasionally until noodles are hot.  Add bacon bits, grated Parmesan and shrimp.  Toss until evenly distributed, a couple minutes.  Take off the heat and add the eggs and toss until everything is coated.  Let sit for a couple minutes to let the egg set, then season with salt and pepper.

Simple, fast and way healthier than my old recipe (which we still love too).  This one is a keeper!