Low Carb Turkey Carbonara

LOW CARB TURKEY CARBONARA

High Protein | Low Carb | Healthy Fats

WHO’S READY for this absolutely LEANCREDIBLE LOW-CARB CARBONARA recipe?! That’s right! This week, I will be showing you guys one of my favourite new recipes in partnership with the Turkey Farmers of Canada! We started with ground turkey for full body, then moved to wings for arms, and last week legs with turkey legs! This week we have moved on to the 4th and FINAL body part, turkey breasts!

Why Turkey?

Turkey is a great source of lean protein! Protein is a super important macronutrient needed to help grow lean muscle and keep us looking and feeling LEAN! Today I am cooking with chicken BREAST which is a light meet. Light meat is less nutrient dense then dark meat, but is lower in fat and higher in protein!

Adding turkey into your diet is the perfect way to keep things fresh and different! When living the lean life, keeping your food fun, different and leanlicious will help you stay on the lean track!

Low carb turkey carbonara

This low-carb carbonara is sure to BLOW YOU AWAY! It’s super creamy texture and its leanlicious flavours will have you questioning if its really low carb!

What’s the secret to the BEST low carb pasta?

My secret for THE BEST tasting low carb pasta is 2 things: palmini pasta and almond milk! Palmini pasta is pasta made from hearts of palm. Hearts of palm comes from the buds of palm trees, and has a look which resembles white asparagus. Per serving, there is only 20 overall calories, 0g of fat AND only 2g of net carbs!

How do we make Palmini taste like regular pasta we have all grown to love? NUT MILK! Any nut milk will do, but I prefer unsweetened almond milk! After straining, draining, and rinsing the noodles, let it soak in the oat milk anywhere between 30-60 minutes. I let my pasta soak while the turkey breast was roasting in the oven, which was about 30 minutes. The pasta is already cooked, so after the 30 minutes, all you have to do is drain the oat milk out, rinse them again, and add to a pan to heat up!

The carbonara sauce is a super important part of the dish! The mixture of bacon and eggs is what gives this carbonara a super creamy and leanmazing texture! After cooking the bacon, it’s important to keep the bacon fat in the pan to keep the dish super creamy and leanlicous. The egg yolks are packed with healthy fats, omega-3’s and protein, so with the creaminess, egg yolks also bring song great health benefits to the dish!

What makes this dish even LEANER? The turkey breast! Turkey breast is LOW in FAT and HIGH in PROTEIN! When cooking the turkey meat, it must be cooked all the way through. In order to check this, you will need a thermometer! When the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, you turkey is ready to go! Since Turkey breast is a lean meat, mixing it in with the fatty sauce will add that much needed juiciness and creaminess into the turkey

Lean prep?!

Why yes! This low-carb turkey carbonara is a great lean prepping recipe! You can cook a couple of turkey breasts, shred them up and make a couple servings of sauce and store them separately in the refrigerator. When ready to eat, just warm up one portion, one can of Palmini pasta and you are ready to go!

As always, cook along with me! Try out this recipe, post it on Instagram and tag @LEANSQUAD and @canadianturkey so we can see your LEANLICIOUS creations!

Here’s how to make it:

LEAN-GREDIENTS :

• skinless, boneless, turkey breast

• 2 cans palmini pasta (hearts of palm)

• 10 strips of bacon, diced

• 1 pint nut milk (i used almond milk)

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 4 egg yolks

• 2 whole eggs

• ½ cup frozen peas

• 1 ½ cips ramona cheese (divided)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• ½ lemon

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley to garnish

LEAN-STRUCTIONS:

1. Rinse and strain 1 can of Palmini pasta. After you have rinsed it, place in bowl and soak in a nut milk. I used almond milk. This helps eliminate any acidity in the Palmini pasta, as well as softening the noodles so they are incredibly leanlicious. Let noodles soak in milk for 20-30 minutes.

2. While noodles are soaking, heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Then prepare turkey breast by adding salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Once ready, place on a baking try lined tin foil and olive oil. Place turkey breast on tray and put in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through (165 degrees is we want the thermometer to read).

3. In a large saucepan, cook chopped bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes. Leave bacon and bacon fat in pan.

4. In a mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks, eggs, and 1 cup pecorino Romano cheese.

5. Toss drained Palmini pasta with cooked bacon. Pour egg mixture in, along with a tablespoon of water and toss together with pasta 2 minutes on medium heat.

6.  Serve hot topped with remaining cheese, salt & ground pepper, and parsley to garnish.

Follow along with me on my Youtube video!:

 [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82To4UCu7Dg[/embedyt]