Veggie Sausage Spaghetti Carbonara

This delicious veggie sausage spaghetti carbonara makes enjoying carbonara pasta possible for vegetarians! The sauce is rich and creamy and is made using just 4 ingredients. These are egg yolks, grated Parmesan or pecorino, ground black pepper and pasta water. This pasta is great for a weeknight dinner and only takes 20 minutes to make.

Veggie sausage spaghetti carbonara: ingredients

This pasta is super simple and requires just 6 ingredients in total:

• spaghetti
• egg yolks
• grated Parmesan or pecorino
• black pepper
• olive oil
• veggie sausages

Pasta

For this recipe to be closer to the authentic original version I recommend using spaghetti. However, this dish would also be delicious with linguine or tagliatelle. I recommend buying a high quality dried pasta as opposed to a fresh supermarket pasta as these often contain various preservatives. If you want to make your own pasta from scratch that would take your carbonara to the next level!

Egg yolks

Using just egg yolks will make your carbonara extra creamy. Using the whites can cause the eggs to scramble so you aren’t guaranteed a smooth and creamy sauce.

Make sure not to pour away your pasta water immediately. Adding pasta water will help the yolks form a creamy, loose sauce which will coat all of your pasta. You do not need to add milk or cream to your carbonara to make a delicious, creamy sauce.

Make sure not to waste your egg whites, why not use them to make meringues?

Cheese

In my opinion this carbonara sauce is equally as delicious with Parmesan as with pecorino. Traditionally, however, pecorino is the cheese used to make carbonara. For your sauce to be 100% vegetarian, however, you will need to use a vegetarian Italian hard cheese.

Veggie sausages

Of course this pasta would be delicious as it is without any protein. However, I found that vegetarian sausages were a great alternative to guanciale. The extra texture and flavour, similar to meat, it added to the pasta.

Due to guanciale’s high fat content usually no oil is added to the pan to fry it. However, I cooked my chopped sausages in a little olive oil to help them brown and crisp up nicely.

I used Richmond vegetarian sausages. I find these have the best, meatiest texture which pairs well with the creamy, peppery sauce.

Can you make vegetarian carbonara?

Traditional carbonara contains Pecorino Romano and guanciale, both of which are not vegetarian. Pecorino Romano, similarly to Parmesan, Manchego and Gorgonzola, is made using animal rennet. Rennet is an enzyme taken from the stomachs of ruminant animals and is, therefore, not vegetarian.

To replace this with a vegetarian alternative you can use cheese labelled as vegetarian Italian hard cheese. This is very similar to Pecorino Romano and Parmesan.

Guanciale is make from pork and, therefore, is also not vegetarian. You can either leave this out, perhaps adding in some extra oil, or use a meat alternative, like I have. If you do this it is possible to make a vegetarian version of carbonara.

Mushroom veggie carbonara

You could use mushrooms instead of meat alternatives to make your veggie carbonara. Mushrooms tend to be healthier than meat alternatives so are a great option. Trying frying up some sliced button mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms before adding in your pasta and sauce.

Veggie sausage spaghetti carbonara: tips

• Don’t overcook your pasta. To make this carbonara taste its best cook your pasta until just al dente. Al dente means it still has a little bite to it.
• Collect a cupful of pasta water before draining it. Pasta water is the best thing to help form a glossy, creamy sauce. Do not use cream or milk, pasta water will work better.
• Don’t leave out the black pepper. Black pepper is where carbonara gets a its fiery flavour from. Furthermore, use freshly ground black pepper as pre-ground pepper can taste dusty.
• Mix the yolks into the pasta off the heat. The residual heat will be enough to cook the yolks through.

Veggie sausage spaghetti carbonara: similar recipes

If you liked this recipe check out my other vegetarian pasta recipes:

• Courgette lemon pasta
• Creamy garlic mushroom pasta
• Comforting Christmas pasta bake
• Pesto pasta bake

Veggie sausage spaghetti carbonara

5 from 1 vote

Spaghetti with a rich and creamy carbonara sauce made of egg yolks, grated Parmesan, black pepper and pasta water.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Calories: 714

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 180g uncooked spaghetti or linguine
• 3 egg yolks
• 65g vegetarian Italian hard cheese, Parmesan or pecorino finely grated
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 170g vegetarian sausages, I used Richmond cooked according to packet instructions

Method

 

1. Roughly chop the cooked sausages.
2. Add the egg yolks, ground pepper and grated cheese to a small bowl. Mix together with a fork.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.
4. Whilst the pasta is cooking heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the chopped sausage over a medium-high heat until starting to brown a little, around 3 minutes.
5. Using tongs or a spaghetti server add the al dente spaghetti straight from the pot into the frying pan. Stir through 4 tbsp of pasta water. Turn the heat off.
6. Stir through another 4 tbsp of pasta water into the egg mixture. Pour this into the pan with the pasta. Toss the pasta, sausage and sauce together until the sauce is glossy and everything is coated evenly. Add in extra pasta water to loosen if necessary.
7. Serve hot with extra grated cheese, if desired.