asparagus & bacon pasta!

between the heat, my new job and being sick i have not been cooking recently. i made this pasta for my lunch yesterday. i loved the saltiness of the bacon combined with the freshness of the asparagus. i know that asparagus and bacon are often served together but i had not tried them before yesterday. to be honest, i only tried asparagus for the first time about a year ago or so. i know… i have been missing out.

just so you know, this is definitely not a dish if you are on a diet, it has the tri-fecta (of deliciousness): bacon, butter and cream!!

here is the recipe for asparagus & bacon pasta!!!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pack of bacon
1 1/2 cup of ziti or macaroni pasta
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 lb asparagus
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 medium white onion
1 tsp of pepper
1 tbs dry oregano
1/2 tbs of butter
1/2 cup of heavy cream
fresh basil & parsley

INSTRUCTIONS:
start by setting some water to boil for the pasta. cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces.

cook the bacon in medium heat.

while the bacon cooks, cut the asparagus. the trick with asparagus is to bend the stalk, once it breaks, use that as your guide to cut the rest of the stalks. cut the parts of the stalk you will use in half.

by now, the water should be boiling, add the pasta, olive oil and salt. cook uncovered until pasta is al-dente.

cook the bacon until it is crispy. not too crispy is burnt, just around the edges.

remove the bacon from the pan and reserve the bacon oil. mmmmmmm, bacon!!

cook the asparagus in the bacon residue. add the coarsely chopped garlic.

and the chopped onions.

mix in the butter.

and the cream.

add the pasta noodles, reserve the pasta water.

and the bacon. baaacoooooon!

add a ladle-full of pasta water and turn everything to mix and coat with the sauce.

mix in the parsley and basil. serve it and enjoy!

i love the combination of asparagus and bacon. the saltiness of the bacon complements the asparagus very well. let’s be honest, i love bacon… anything with bacon is good in my book.