BLT Pasta
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 slices white sandwich bread, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes
12 slices bacon, chopped (I used an entire package of 12 ounce package of center cut bacon.)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1 pound small pasta, such as shells
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
5 ounces baby arugula
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
1. Bring large pot water to boil. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add bread and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to bowl and wipe out skillet.
2. Cook bacon in empty skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate or sieve set over bowl and pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet. Cook onion in bacon fat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 1⁄2 cups cooking water. Drain pasta and return to pot. Stir in tomatoes, arugula, Parmesan, bacon, onion mixture, and 1 cup reserved pasta water (adding additional water as needed). Season with salt and pepper and top with croutons. Serve.
Comments
This recipe is from the 2010 Cook’s Country Annual. I loved this as a meal, the guys both felt that it was a summer dinner and not really a winter dinner. I could have eaten the whole thing by myself. I suggest adding the Parmesan at the end so it doesn’t melt and clump like mine did! I appreciated the peppery bite of the arugula in this dish, but spinach could be substituted if you don’t have access to arugula. Art ate the leftovers cold the following day and said that was tasty too!
Cook’s Country 2010