Chicken Carbonara

Last night my husband had plans to help his friend hook up his new surround sound system. I told them I would cook a homemade dinner while they did this, instead of us having to go out to eat. I decided to try a new recipe, Chicken Carbonara. I've never made this dish before and always wanted to try it. However, at restaurants this pasta is high in fat and calories. The recipe I am posting is a "healthified" version of the classic dish and it came out pretty tasty. The recipe comes from "For the Love of Cooking". I cooked the exact recipe last night but I already have ideas on ways to make it a little different. We were all satisfied with the dish and the guys ate seconds. I served this with a fresh salad with veggies from our garden, some roasted pan seared asparagus, wheat dinner rolls with garlic and parsley, and the chicken for the carbonara pasta.

Chicken Carbonara
Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thin-sliced)
McCormick's Garlic and Herb Grinder seasoning
sea salt
black pepper
Olive oil
4 ounces of Boar's Head Pancetta - diced into small chunks
1 shallot - finely diced
1 clove of garlic - finely diced
1 egg or egg substitute equivalent
1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
Healthy Harvest whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup of pasta cooking water

Directions:
Chicken-
*In a non-stick skillet, heat up a small amount of olive oil
*Season chicken with garlic and herb seasoning, pepper, and a pinch of salt
*Saute chicken in the pan until cooked

Pasta-
*Boil water in a large pot
*Add pasta and cook according to directions on the box of pasta
*Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the pasta water for the carbonara.

Carbonara-
*In a non-stick skillet, heat on medium-high heat and cook the pancetta until crispy and done
*While pancetta is cooking, in a small bowl combine the egg, pepper, and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese and stir together. Set aside.
*Once Pancetta is completely cooked, place it on a paper towel to soak up the grease and set aside.
*In the same skillet, add the diced shallots and garlic and cook until tender (just a few minutes)
*Remove the skillet from heat once those are done.
*Add spaghetti noodles and pasta water to the garlic and shallots.
*Add the egg mixture to the pan and stir continuously so the egg does not cook, but blends together with the pasta.
*Add in the pancetta and remainder of the parmesan cheese and stir together.
*Pour pasta in a serving dish and top with fresh parsley
*Put chicken on a serving dish next to the pasta

*Modifications
-I cooked this recipe exactly how I have it above. I kept the chicken out of the pasta dish, so that people could have their own piece of chicken rather than having to dig around the pasta to get enough.
-Next time, I will use 2 shallots and about 6 oz of pancetta
-I will also use 2 eggs and a little more parmesan cheese, so it is a creamier dish.
-I will also recommend throwing in some crushed red pepper flakes to the pasta dish when it is done.

Overall, I think you will really like this dish. Enjoy :)