Butter Bean Carbonara with Kale Pesto Dressing

Serves 2

Take 45 minutes

Italians look away, this is a twist on the classic with an added piquancy from the herby kale pesto. Frugal with creamy butter beans, all coated in a silky sauce with a salty tang from the cured meat. Perfect for a simple mid week meal or for those nights you want delicious food with relatively no effort. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

1. To make the pesto dressing, combine all the ingredients except the oil into a food processor and blitz together – or a bowl and use a hand blender. Whilst blitzing, slowly pour in the olive oil until you have a runny green dressing. (You can add as much or as little oil as you like, depending on your desired consistency). Adjust the seasoning to your taste and set aside for later.
2. Set a wide pan on a medium heat, add in the guanciale or lardons and begin slowly cooking to render down the fat. Once the fat has rendered and the meat has become a little crispy, remove with a slotted spoon. Retain the fat.
3. In a bowl, add the 2 whole eggs, 5 yolks, pecorino and the ground black pepper. Whisk together to combine to a thick-ish liquid. Pour in a drop of the rendered fat and mix this as well. Set aside for later.
4. Bring the pan you fried the meat in, to a medium heat and add the sliced garlic to the rendered fat, cook for 2 minutes until smelling fragrant but not burnt.
5. Add in the butterbeans, along with a couple of splashes of the retained bean liquid. Bring up to a running simmer, season with a pinch of salt and crush a few of the beans with the back of your spoon to
6. help the sauce thicken.
7. Once the majority of the water has reduced, add the browned meat back into the pan and stir to combine.
8. Turn the heat off and allow to cool slightly before pouring in the egg mixture. Stir well to ensure all the butterbeans are coated in the silky sauce, pour in another splash of the butterbean water to help loosen if you think necessary.
9. Grate in some more pecorino and stir into the sauce, keep adding a splash of water and grated cheese until you have your desired consistency.
10. Serve immediately in bowls, scatter over the chopped chives and drizzle the kale pesto dressing all over the beans – this will cut through the rich sauce beautifully. Enjoy!

• 2 tins butterbeans, 1 tin drained, second tin half drained
• 300g guanciale/smoked bacon lardons, diced into 1cm cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• Pinch of salt
• 2 whole eggs
• 5 egg yolks
• 150g pecorino, grated
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• Handful of chives, finely chopped

For the Kale Pesto Dressing:

• 50g kale, blanched, drained and dried
• 20g basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 100g pecorino, grated
• 50g toasted pine nuts
• Pinch of salt
• Olive oil, for drizzling