Good morning y’all from the Hungry Southern Belle house!  There are some recipes that I test out that exceed my expectations of an enthusiastic response from my diners.  In this case, it was Riche who was very pleased with this dinner option.  I had found a recipe for a low FODMAP chicken carbonara.  A classic carbonara is a traditional Italian pasta with a bacon and egg sauce.  At first glance, I couldn’t imagine how you could make a whole/clean and low FODMAP alternative for this classic dish and still maintain the flavor.   This recipe did an amazing job at just that!  The recipe includes chicken for extra protein (although you could certainly leave it out).  It is a great dish for during the week because as a time saver you can make the sauce while your pasta or in our case zucchini noodles cook, and then toss it with the hot, drained noodles or zucchini noodles.  I chose not to use traditional noodles and instead busted out the Spiralizer for some crisp, zucchini noodles.  Absolutely delicious and a nice texture alternative!  I usually judge recipes that I share with y’all based on the reactions of who I prepared it for…Riche couldn’t stop talking about this one while he was eating it and even threw a few “you should TOTALLY post this on the blog” comments.  So here you go!  Enjoy y’all!!!!

Chicken Carbonara with Spiralized Zucchini Noodles

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 7 ounces gluten-free spaghetti (or in our case, 1-2 medium spiralized zucchini’s)
• 8 bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon garlic olive oil
• 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 6 scallions, chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus a little extra for garnish)
• Freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

• Cook pasta according to the package instructions or in our case, pan saute zucchini noodles until al dente.
• In a large saute pan, cook the bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is browned and crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon, and set it aside to drain on paper towels.  Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan and return to the heat.  Add the garlic oil and heat until it shimmers.
• Add the chicken to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is completely browned on all side, about 3 minutes per side.  Remove the chicken from the pan with tongs and set it aside with the bacon.
• Add the scallion greens to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until very well combined.
• Add the hot spaghetti (or zucchini noodles), bacon and chicken to the pan with the scallion greens, and remove the pan from heat.
• Add the egg-milk mixture to the hot pasta or zucchini noodles in a thin stream, stirring constantly.  Toss with the Parmesan cheese and pepper.  Serve.