Creamy One Pot Pasta with Asparagus, Bacon & Mushrooms
This pasta is wrapped in a dreamy creamy sauce and loaded with asparagus, crispy bacon and mushrooms. Better still, it's all made in one pot!!
Servings: 4
Cost: £2 / $2.50
Equipment
- Large Pot & Wooden Spoon
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Jug (for stock)
- Fine Cheese Grater
- Slotted Spoon & Side Bowl (for removing bacon)
Ingredients
- 12.3oz / 350g uncooked Penne, or other short-cut pasta
- 3 1/3 cups / 800ml Chicken Stock, not piping hot!
- 1 cup / 240ml Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
- 1/2 cup / 40g freshly grated Parmesan
- 5.3oz / 150g Asparagus, diced (woody ends removed)
- 5.3oz / 150g Mushrooms of choice, sliced (here I use Chestnut Mushrooms)
- 5.3oz / 150g Bacon, diced
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 2 tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley
- 1 medium Onion, finely diced
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat add the bacon and fry until the fat fully renders and the bacon is nice and crispy. Don't be tempted to crank up the heat, you want it fairly low and slow to render down the fat. Remove the bacon from the pot and place in a bowl to one side, leaving the bacon fat behind.
- Melt in 2 tbsp butter, then add asparagus, mushrooms and onion. Fry until they begin to soften/pick up colour, then add garlic and fry for a minute or so longer.
- Pour in the chicken stock and cream (important the cream is at room temp and the stock isn't too hot or the cream may curdle). Give it a stir, then add the uncooked pasta.
- Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low-medium, then cook until the penne is al dente, stirring frequently as you go. If the sauce soaks up before the pasta is cooked just add another dash of stock, water or milk to cook to help cook it through. You're looking for it to be al dente though (still a teeny bit hard).
- Once the sauce has thickened and the pasta is cooked, add back in the bacon with the parsley and parmesan. Season to taste then give it a final stir and serve up!
Video
Notes
a) Hot Stock / Cream - Make sure the stock is closer to room temp than it is piping hot, and make sure the cream is room temp (or close to). Pouring cold cream into piping hot stock is a curdle waiting to happen.
b) Emulsify - Because you're trying to blend a fair bit of fat (bacon fat, butter, cream) with stock, which is essentially water, the starch from the pasta will allow you to do this. As such, it's important to give it a good stir as the pasta is cooking, just to help along with the emulsion.
c) Consistency - You're looking for the sauce to be thick enough to stick to the pasta, but not so thick there's no saucy consistency to it. If it does thicken before the pasta is cook just add a few splashes of stock (or water) until it's cooked.
d) Pasta - Pasta (IMO) should always be al dente (have a bit of a bite to it) and that's how it'll end up with this recipe. Don't expect to have super soft pasta!
e) Calories - based on sharing between 4 people.
Nutrition
Calories: 855kcal | Carbohydrates: 85.2g | Protein: 23.23g | Fat: 48.46g | Saturated Fat: 23.904g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.838g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16.447g | Trans Fat: 0.159g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 764mg | Potassium: 844mg | Fiber: 11.3g | Sugar: 7.54g | Vitamin A: 1728IU | Vitamin C: 8.6mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 2.69mg