Spinach Carbonara Featuring Brown Rice Pasta

This is one of my family's favorite meals. It is an updated, fresh version of the classic carbonara.   I add spinach to the egg sauce and substitute ham for the bacon. This is a good meal for when your body is in need of some carbs (because I eat carbs..I don't care what anybody says) or you just want a nice filling dinner that everyone in the house will love. This is also a great 'cheat meal' for people who do watch their carbs.

My pasta of choice is Tinkyada brown rice pasta. We really enjoy the flavor and the texture of it. We are not a gluten free family, we just really really like the mouth feel of this pasta. 

The ingredients are pretty simple:
1 Package of Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta Shells
1 8 oz Package of Spinach
2-3 cloves of chopped garlic
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 lean ham steak, cubed
Black Pepper to taste

Boil pasta according to the directions.  While pasta is cooking, saute the spinach and garlic in a small amount of olive or coconut oil until the spinach is wilted.   Turn off heat. When the spinach has cooled, add it to a blender with the milk, eggs, and cheese.  Blend until smooth.

In the same pan, brown the ham.  Turn down the heat to low and slowly add the spinach mixture to the ham so that the eggs do not cook like scrambled eggs.  Cook on medium -low while stirring until the mixture thickens.  Add the cooked and drained pasta and stir until coated.  Add black pepper to taste.  I usually don't feel like it needs any extra sauce since the ham adds enough salt to the whole dish.
Hope that your family enjoys this dish as much as we do.