Well, if there was ever a dish that got unanimous O’D Household approval, this was that dish. In fact, it was so good, that ever member of the household wanted more. There wasn’t any left.

I need to back up a few weeks as this dish was inspired by a fabulous night out celebrating COD’s birthday. COD hit a signifiacnt milestone in 2025 and was gifted a voucher for a fantastic restaurant we’ve been meaning to try called True Food Kitchen. Linked to Castelhaven, a seasonal coastal beauty spot renowned for outstanding food, we have had this on the list for ages. Celebrating the milestone + 1, seemed as good a time as any. We even took the kids.

Being a more upmarket spot, the girls took the opportunity to ‘dress up’. Now, as we have teens, that means we upgraded the uniform of Iets Frans trackies to Urban Outfitters jeans and a nice top. It was serious business! COD and I did our best to keep up.

The menu at True Food Kitchen is an Asian fusion delight and we opted to share a few small starter plates before our mains. One of these small starter plates was prawn and panchetta carbonara. Intrigued by the prawn x cheese combo required for this to be a proper carbonara, it was ordered. And it was utterly delightful. Silky sauce, sweet prawns, pops of panchetta and a revelation in the seafood x cheese partnership dilemma. I’m sure there will be some unhappy Italians….

So, I went internet surfing and found what turned out to be a very good approximation. As with any recipe I find, I tend to use it as a guide and so made some changes…… I based my version on Inspired Taste’s interpretation of this dish but here is my take on it.

Prawn and bacon carbonara

Ingredients (served 5 but probably more like 4):

1 x pack of streaky bacon chopped into small pieces (in hindsight, I think maybe half a pack would be fine but then up the prawns to keep the protein content up)
2 x packs of raw king prawns (approx 350g)
2 x cloves garlic
6 x egg yolks + 2 eggs (now, this is quite different to the recipe but I had left over egg whites and egg yolks in the freezer – of questionable age – so I used those)
50g parmesan cheese (I did not use two kinds of cheese as suggested in the recipe) + more for topping
2 x medium courgettes – spiralised
400g linguine
3/4 tsp of ground black pepper
Dash of dried thyme
Salt to taste (I did not add any beyond step 1 below as the bacon and cheese are already super salty)
Olive oil

Method:

1. Season prawns: This was new to me – drain the prawns and then pat dry. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of finely ground black pepper
2. Cook bacon : Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the bacon, garlic cloves, thyme to taste and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the bacon begins to crisp. We like our bacon crispy so I cooked longer than the recipe suggested. Probably 10 mins in total but you need to be guided by your pan / stove situation
3. While the bacon is cooking, prepare egg mixture: In a medium bowl – thoroughly whisk the whole eggs and egg yolks, along with the parmesan and set it aside
4. Cook prawns: Add the prawns, in one layer, to the pan with the bacon. Cook for 1 minute, flip, and cook until tender and slightly undercooked, about 1 minute. Transfer the prawns to a plate and loosely cover with foil. Discard the garlic. Turn off the heat, and set the pan aside until the pasta is ready. Just before the pasta is done, reheat the bacon and rendered fat in the pan over low heat.
5. Cook pasta: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender, with a nice chew).
6. Add pasta to pan: Do not drain the pasta water. Instead, use tongs to transfer the pasta to the skillet with bacon over low heat. Toss the pasta around the skillet for 2 minutes.
7. Create the sauce: Turn off the heat and wait one minute. I like to add a ladle of the starchy psta water to the egg mixture (VERY SLOWLY) and mix well. Then….add the egg and cheese mixture to the pan, and immediately begin tossing everything together. Add a splash of pasta water (2 to 3 tablespoons), or more as needed, to thin the sauce until a silky sauce forms. Stopping or a pan that’s too hot will cause the eggs to scramble. Keeping everything moving around will make the sauce turn silky. It takes a minute or two.
8. Taste and season with salt and additional pepper as needed. Toss in the prawns. Divide between dishes and dust with more cheese and black pepper on top.

This truly was an absolutely amazing dish and one I have no doubt we will create many times again.

In other news:

1. We got kittens. We thought we got girl kittens but it turns out we have boys who have been renamed following their sex identification change. Zorro and Tigger are a delightful addition to the house and are climbing, bouncing, chewing, scratching and generally wreaking hoavoc on everything. They are lucky they look so damn cute doing it! Zorro likes to climb my arm and shoulder as I read in bed so I am shredded.
2. Fly is unsure what to make of his new housemates. They haven’t properly met and are still kept spearated by a dog cage but he is equal parts intrigued and utterly terrified! Despite the kittens being 1/20th of his size and weight, one hiss and he is off!
3. LOD is knee deep in GCSE studying. With over 20 written exams ahead, it is head down in the books although she seems to also be waitressing across 3 local establishments and earning money to keep her in Vinted purchases. #balance
4. ACOD and EEROD are enjoying school holidays with friends and parties and as I write this have headed out to take Fly for a walk – they are useful during the school holidays!
5. The veg for this year is in and growing well. Judging by what’s happening globally, we will need everything the garden can produce this year. Hopefully a good crop is forthcoming.
6. Running has ground to a halt. My ankle is still giving me jip and I am going a bit nuts not being able to get out and enjoy the few rays of sun we are now being treated to. Hopefully back at it from next week but it’ll be a slow return as I gear up for Marathon Du Medoc in September and make sure I can run the full distance.
7. As promised, I made my Dad more hot cross buns. The bread maker didn;t drop the fruit in and for some reason (age, perimenopause, too busy?) I didn’t notice and so I made fruitless hot cross buns. As Dad said ‘they’re nice but unniteresting’.