Skinny Carbonara

Traditional carbonara sauce is laden with heavy cream, butter, eggs, cheese, and crispy bacon. And to make matters worse (or better depending on how you look at it...) it's served over empty calories known as "enriched pasta". These things just don't fit into this girl's daily diet.

As a pasta lover and a cheese lover I had to find a better way to indulge in this decadent dish.

I finally accomplished my goal a few days ago.

I came up with a skinny version of carbonara pasta filled with mushrooms, turkey bacon, cheese, and smarter pasta (a yummy option that is full of fiber that's not whole wheat!).

Ronzoni smart pastas look and taste like typical enriched pasta, but they have a secret! They have a whopping 6 grams of fiber per 2 oz serving and only 180 calories. Regular pasta has no fiber and is 200 calories per 2oz. I'm just sayin....

But, the best part? Jon couldn't tell the difference when we had it the other day in chicken noodle soup. That is a winner in my book. :)

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friend. Cheers!

Smart Spaghetti Carbonara
Serves 1
275 calories

1 1/2 oz Ronzoni smart spaghetti or linguine
2 slices pan fried turkey bacon, chopped
1/2 cup chopped, fresh mushrooms
1/2 tsp flour
1 tsp I can't believe it's not butter light
3 TBS skim milk
1 1/2 TBS shredded Parmesan cheese
Garlic salt and pepper

Simmer pasta in lightly salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and keep warm.

Spray a non stick skillet with butter spray. Saute mushrooms until tender. Remove from pan, keep warm .

To the skillet add the butter and flour. Stir together until smooth.

Add milk. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add Parmesan cheese.

Toss in pasta, mushrooms, bacon, salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.