Creamy Bacon Pasta (easy & delicious!)
This creamy bacon pasta is way too easy and delicious not to try!
Servings: 2
Cost: £4 / $5
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Slotted Spoon & Kitchen Roll/Paper Towels (for removing bacon)
- Large Pot & Tongs (for pasta)
- Jug (for stock)
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 150g / 5.3oz Streaky Bacon, diced
- 2 Shallots, finely diced
- 1 large clove of Garlic, finely diced
- 60ml / 1/4 cup Dry White Wine (see notes)
- 200g / 7oz Long-Cut Pasta (see notes)
- 80ml / 1/3 cup Chicken Stock
- 160ml / 2/3 cup Double/Heavy Cream
- 2 tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley
- 30g / 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Salt & Black Pepper, as needed
Instructions
- Add the bacon to a large pan with the heat off. Turn the heat to medium and fry until crisp with the fat rendered down. Don't rush the process and crank up the heat. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place it on kitchen roll/paper towels. If there's more than 1 tbsp fat in the pan remove excess.
- Add the shallots to the leftover fat and gently sweat them down until soft and golden. Add the garlic and fry for another 30 seconds or so, then pour in the wine. Increase the heat slightly a simmer the wine for 3-4 minutes, or until it almost completely evaporates and the pungent smell of alcohol disappears.
- Meanwhile, add the pasta to a large pot of salted boiling water and cook until al dente.
- Lower the heat back down the medium and stir in the stock, cream, parmesan and parsley. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring as you go, until the sauce thickens. Check for seasoning and adjust if needed, then use tongs to transfer the cooked pasta straight from the pot into the sauce (embrace any excess water that comes with it). Toss to coat the pasta in the sauce, then add the bacon and continue tossing until the sauce thickens and clings to the pasta. If it over-thickens, just toss in a splash more pasta water.
- Serve up with more parmesan and parsley if desired then tuck in and enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) Bacon - I recommend using streaky bacon for this recipe (regular bacon in the US). It's fattier than back bacon, so you can render down the fat and use it to fry the shallots.
b) Wine - This helps cut through the richness of the sauce and will also add a very faint background flavour. Most of, if not all of the alcohol will burn off, but if you can't use it then use non-alcoholic wine or leave it out.
c) Pasta - I like using long-cut pasta for this recipe (I use Tagliatelle here). I find it easier to toss and bind the sauce. You can use any type of pasta you fancy. For reference, 200g/7oz is the dry weight.
d) Stock - I use 1/2 a chicken Oxo cube to make 80ml / 1/3 cup stock. If you have ready-made stock obviously just measure that out. If you're sensitive to salt you can use reduced-salt stock.
e) Calories - Whole recipe divided by 2 with no extra parmesan.
Nutrition
Calories: 1031kcal | Carbohydrates: 89.69g | Protein: 24.46g | Fat: 65.6g | Saturated Fat: 21.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.324g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10.339g | Trans Fat: 0.131g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 718mg | Potassium: 896mg | Fiber: 11.8g | Sugar: 5.1g | Vitamin A: 1805IU | Vitamin C: 7.7mg | Calcium: 203mg | Iron: 1.93mg