Creamy Bacon Pasta
Creamy Bacon Pasta needs no introduction! The wonderful aroma in your kitchen will speak for itself. Pasta and bacon bits enveloped in thick cream and cheese all come together in 30 minutes! Perfect for any day of the week.
Ingredients
- 300 grams Bucatini or another spaghetti type pasta
- 2 tbsps. Coarse sea salt any any other salt for the pasta
- 300 grams Diced bacon
- 250 grams Thick cream
- 1 Cup Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
- 2 Cloves Fresh garlic minced
- 1 shallot small and diced
- Fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta: In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta till about a minute less than required on the packet. Reserve a cup of the pasta water and drain the rest once the pasta is cooked.
- Bacon: Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan and add the oil. Bring to a medium-high heat and add the chopped bacon. Fry the bacon slowly till cooked through and nicely brown (4 to 5 minutes) Remove and set aside leaving the oil in the pan.
- Garlic & Shallot: Same pan, lower the heat and cook the garlic and shallot for 2 minutes or until light golden brown.
- Cream: Add the cream, half of the pasta water and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Combine: Stir it in to combine, a couple seconds
- Pasta water: Add the remaining ½ cup pasta water.
- Simmer to reduce in necessary: If your sauce is too thin (perhaps added more than needed pasta water or trying to create more sauce) let it simmer 2 to 3 minutes to get thick again.
- Cheese: Add the cheese and stir it in to melt.
- Cooked pasta: Add the cooked pasta and gently stir it through.
- Bacon: Add the bacon.
- Combine: Stir the bacon through with the pasta and cream.
- Black pepper: Add fresh black pepper and extra slices of cheese to serve.
- Garnish/serve: Fresh parsley is optional
Notes
Cheese: We use Pecorino Romano cheese in this recipe but feel free to substitute with Parmesan cheese. Pecorino is very salty so consider when adding salt throughout the recipe.
FAQ's Creamy Bacon Pasta
What is Bucatini pasta? Bucatini, (long and hollow) also known as perciatelli, is a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. It is common throughout Lazio, particularly Rome. What can I use instead of Bucatini? You can use regular spaghetti or spaghettoni (which is a thicker spaghetti) or another popular one is fettucine. For this creamy bacon pasta recipe, I use whatever pasta I have on hand, fusilli, penne, tagliatelle, farfalle (bow-tie pasta), linguine and so many other options. How can I fix my sauce if it too watery? Let it simmer and it will thicken. Is oil necessary when cooking bacon? Bacon renders it's own fat while cooking so oil is not necessary. This recipe cooks the bacon in butter and uses the remaining fat to cook the onion and garlic. How to safely remove access oil in the pan? Use a pair of tongs and grip tissue paper, soak the hot oil up and discard. There should be no dominating taste in this recipe besides the bacon, cheese and cream. Still, the cheese is not the star of the show. It's a creamy bacon pasta recipe.STORAGE
Keep in a container, sealed and in the fridge for 3 days or freeze for 2 to 3 months. Always make sure that your cooked food is completely cooled before refrigerating.Reheating
Medium to high heat on the stove top with a little addition of liquid. The liquid can be water, milk or pouring cream. If reheating from frozen, let the pasta thaw first before reheating. DID YOU MAKE THIS? We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram @anosmickitchen #anosmickitchen
