Parsnip Carbonara with Oyster Mushrooms

I thought seeing as we only have one more week left of winter it would be nice to celebrate it with one of our most loved Little Bird cafe comfort meals. This deliciously creamy carbonara takes just a few minutes to whip up. 

Instead of pasta, I’m using parsnip which is abundant at the moment and incredibly good for you with its high vitamin C, folate and fibre content. It might sound a bit weird to use parsnip as pasta, but I promise you won’t be disappointed. It works perfectly as a noodle alternative, especially in this dish with its mild, nutty and smoky flavour. And instead of cream I am using soaked cashews which create a creamy sauce in seconds in your blender. 

At the cafe we make our own coconut bacon out of young coconuts to garnish it, but if cracking coconuts and making them into bacon is not your thing, many stores now sell coconut chips that have a smoky sweet flavour that would do the trick. You can also leave them out as this tastes really good without it. This recipe is a version of one featured in my new cookbook Little Bird Goodness, find it on Bite Online.