With the sun out and the lovely weather, you’d think my brain would sync. with my stomach and agree on weather appropriate cravings.

But noooooo, that’d be far too easy. Instead, I’ve been craving very non-bikini-friendly things, namely mozzarella dippers and pasta carbonara.

The Italian classic is one of my all-times favourite dishes and one I can hardly say no to.

And on my way back from the farmers’ market last Sunday, I simply couldn’t choose between cooking with some of the lovely vegetables I just got, or cave in and make a nice bowl of spaghetti carbonara.

You guessed it, I ended up not choosing and made leeks carbonara: a lighter, fresher version of the classic that’s just as satisfying as the real deal (but with one sneaky portion of your five a day in it!)

The perfect dish to celebrate the arrival of Spring!

Leeks carbonara (serves 2)

Ingredients: half the amount of pasta you’d usually make when cooking spaghetti carbonara, 1 big leek (or 2 small ones), 100g lardons (or pancetta), 2 tsp crème fraîche (I KNOW carbonara doesn’t have cream in it, but this veggie-heavy version works better with some!), handful grated parmesan, 2 egg yolk, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper

1.  Cook your pasta according to packaging instructions. Strain and share into two bowls.

2. Wash your leeks and cut them lengthwise into thin stripes.

3. Crack your eggs and separate the yolk from the white.

4. Heat up a big frying pan. Cook the lardons until nice and crispy. Remove from the pan.

5.In the same frying pan, cook your leeks in a little bit of olive oil until tender (about 10 min). Remove from the stove, season with sea salt and black pepper and add on top of the pasta.

6. Place the lardons back in the frying pan, add the cream and cook for a couple of minute. Pour on top of the leeks. Sprinkle with parmesan and add an egg yolk on top of each bowl. Serve immediately.