Bacony Pasta

Serves 4, 30min

Basically pasta all’amatriciana with American-style bacon, this is always a hit. My wife has a sensitivity to onion so I cook with shallot instead, but you can use onion here.

Ingredients

1 lb. pasta, I like spaghetti or bucatini for this
5 oz. thick-cut bacon
1 T olive oil
1 oz. sun dried tomato in oil, diced
1 shallot, diced
Black pepper, to taste
Plenty of Parmesan, grated

Steps

Boil a pot of water for pasta and salt it.

Cut the bacon into lardons: don’t separate the rashers, instead slice them into thin rectangles, and then cross-ways once. This can be easier if the bacon is partway frozen.

Cook the bacon: Heat the oil over medium heat, in a skillet large enough to hold the whole dinner. You’ll be adding the pasta to this pan at the end. Add the bacon and fry until the bacon is crispy but not burnt. Turn the heat to low and use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked bacon to a bowl. Leave the fat in the pan. If you want, you can pour off some of the fat, leaving at least a tablespoon. I like to leave all the fat in; it’s not healthy but it’s delicious.

Add the pasta to the boiling water.

Add the shallot and bring heat back to med-low, cooking the shallot gently until transparent but not yet browned. Add the sun dried tomato and plenty of black pepper and lower heat to low.

While the pasta continues to cook, you can add a spoonful or two of the pasta-cooking water to the skillet to deglaze and stop the shallot from over-cooking. Stir the water in vigorously and the starchy water will start to emulsify the fat into a sauce.

When the pasta is about a minute shy of its cooking time, remove it with tongs and dump it into the skillet. Or you can drain it through a colander, but make sure to reserve at least a cup of the pasta-cooking water. Add half a cup of the cooking water to the skillet as well as the reserved bacon, crank the heat to med-high, and toss the pasta vigorously. The water will start to reduce and emulsify into a silky sauce.

Remove from heat and add the grated Parmesan, stirring. This will form an even creamier sauce, if it seems a little dry add some more pasta water.

Serve immediately.