Brie Pasta (with bacon & caramelized onions!)
This Brie Pasta is silky smooth, outrageously delicious and easy to make. Better still, you only need 5 main ingredients!
Servings: 2
Cost: £2.50 / $3
Equipment
- Large Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Pot & Colander
Ingredients
- 7oz / 200g Pasta of choice, here I've used Gigli
- 7oz / 200g block of Brie, rind removed and diced into chunks
- 6 slices of Streaky Bacon (see notes)
- 1 large Onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Fresh Thyme (approx 2 sprigs)
- Salt & Black Pepper, as needed
- Olive Oil, as needed
Instructions
- Bacon: add bacon to a pan over low-medium heat and fry both sides until crisp with the fat fully rendered down. Remove bacon and leave the fat in the pan. Dice just before needed.
- Onions: add onion to the leftover fat and fry for around 10mins until they just start to pick up colour (add more oil if needed). Turn heat to low and gently caramelize the onions until golden, sticky and very soft (around 30-40mins). This process is important to sweat down the onions and sweeten them, the lower and slower you fry the more caramelized they'll be.
- Pasta: just before the onions are finished, pop your pasta in salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve a cup of starchy pasta just before draining.
- Brie: whisk 1/2 cup/120ml starchy pasta water in with the onions then melt in the brie.
- Serve: toss in pasta then stir in 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp thyme and the diced bacon, using more starchy pasta water to thin out the sauce if needed. Season with salt and black pepper (careful with salt as bacon and brie already salty) then serve up and enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) Bacon - If you're in the UK you want streaky bacon (regular bacon in the US). This is because it's fairly fatty, which is great because the fat is used to caramelize the onions, which adds a ton of flavour. Try and fry low & slow to render down as much fat as possible.
b) Caramelized Onions - Although it does take time to properly caramelize the onions, it's a crucial step. If they're not soft and sweet enough they'll completely take over the dish. The sweetness is also important to balance out the saltiness of the cheese and bacon.
c) Starchy Pasta Water - Fill the pot of pasta with just enough water to cover it, just so it's nice and starchy. The starch molecules are what helps emulsify the fats in the sauce and turns it creamy.
d) Calories - based on sharing between two, assuming 2 tsp olive oil added:
Nutrition
Calories: 1068kcal | Carbohydrates: 85.12g | Protein: 38.55g | Fat: 64.94g | Saturated Fat: 18.344g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.228g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11.843g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 1001mg | Potassium: 923mg | Fiber: 11.9g | Sugar: 3.49g | Vitamin A: 771IU | Vitamin C: 5.4mg | Calcium: 205mg | Iron: 1.93mg