see i really am making pasta regularly, probably once a week it makes an appearance for dinner. and i've been trying to keep it relevant and interesting (for you the reader and me the eater) by mixing up the ingredients each week and not just drowning it in jarred tomato sauce. never fear, i do eat spaghetti like that sometimes.
this week i was in our fancy-schmancy remodeled target that now contains a practically-fully stocked grocery store when inspiration struck. big yippee for me! i love going to only one store to get everything i need, and so far target has proved to have pretty fresh produce, a decent meat selection as well as the 18 other things i "need" that usually add up to $100 dollars. every single damn time. my big problem with target is a personal one and unrelated to how great target is (and no, i don't work at target or own stock in target) but that happens each time i visit. the problem is that when i step into the bulls-eyed covered haven is that i refuse to get a cart. i only need a few things i think to myself -- a card, cooking spray, oil of olay and some random "need." well wander for 30 minutes and i'm the asshole trying to balance the 18 said items in my hands along with some purse while on my iphone. yes, i am that asshole! you know me, you've seen me.
anyway, this week i was in the deli section when i saw it. turkey bacon. i love turkey bacon. its delicious, inexpensive and is in the quasi-healthy food catergory. excellent, it meets all requirements. with the TB, i grabbed some frozen peas and various other unrelated pasta items and left target.
upon returning home, i preheated the over to 375 (per TB directions) and baked 4 slabs off for 12 minutes. directions said 8 minutes but i like crispy bacon!
while the bacon cooked, i boiled my well-salted water and cooked off my barilla plus spaghetti:
as the pasta and bacon cooked, i knew i had to form some sort of "sauce," type condiment to dress the pasta and bacon. i was looking at the peas with some trepidation when i sauteed up 1/3 of a chopped shallot, 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic with some salt, pepper and red pepper flake. as the shallot and garlic softened up, i added a few tablespoons of pasta water to the veg mixture to give it some body. after about 5 minutes the peas entered the pan and brought the sauce to life.
as this all heated together, the pasta and bacon finished up. i chopped the bacon (devouring a few bites for myself along the way) and drained the pasta before adding to the skillet and giving a good turn before depositing into my favorite pasta bowl.
once in the bowl i added a hearty helping of parmesan that pretty much coated each spaghetti noodle. i think this might be my fave weeknight pasta meal so far. much heartier than last week's lemon-argula number and better flavor combination than the death by pesto of july. although i think i'm using similar methods, of subbing lower-fat ingredients and semi-cheating from heavy carbolicious recipes. this week was definitely semi-inspired by leeann's superb spaghetti carbonara. that's a knock out of the park each time, but for me this week's weeknight pasta was a success to the last bite.
this week i was in our fancy-schmancy remodeled target that now contains a practically-fully stocked grocery store when inspiration struck. big yippee for me! i love going to only one store to get everything i need, and so far target has proved to have pretty fresh produce, a decent meat selection as well as the 18 other things i "need" that usually add up to $100 dollars. every single damn time. my big problem with target is a personal one and unrelated to how great target is (and no, i don't work at target or own stock in target) but that happens each time i visit. the problem is that when i step into the bulls-eyed covered haven is that i refuse to get a cart. i only need a few things i think to myself -- a card, cooking spray, oil of olay and some random "need." well wander for 30 minutes and i'm the asshole trying to balance the 18 said items in my hands along with some purse while on my iphone. yes, i am that asshole! you know me, you've seen me.
anyway, this week i was in the deli section when i saw it. turkey bacon. i love turkey bacon. its delicious, inexpensive and is in the quasi-healthy food catergory. excellent, it meets all requirements. with the TB, i grabbed some frozen peas and various other unrelated pasta items and left target.
upon returning home, i preheated the over to 375 (per TB directions) and baked 4 slabs off for 12 minutes. directions said 8 minutes but i like crispy bacon!
while the bacon cooked, i boiled my well-salted water and cooked off my barilla plus spaghetti:
as the pasta and bacon cooked, i knew i had to form some sort of "sauce," type condiment to dress the pasta and bacon. i was looking at the peas with some trepidation when i sauteed up 1/3 of a chopped shallot, 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic with some salt, pepper and red pepper flake. as the shallot and garlic softened up, i added a few tablespoons of pasta water to the veg mixture to give it some body. after about 5 minutes the peas entered the pan and brought the sauce to life.
as this all heated together, the pasta and bacon finished up. i chopped the bacon (devouring a few bites for myself along the way) and drained the pasta before adding to the skillet and giving a good turn before depositing into my favorite pasta bowl.
once in the bowl i added a hearty helping of parmesan that pretty much coated each spaghetti noodle. i think this might be my fave weeknight pasta meal so far. much heartier than last week's lemon-argula number and better flavor combination than the death by pesto of july. although i think i'm using similar methods, of subbing lower-fat ingredients and semi-cheating from heavy carbolicious recipes. this week was definitely semi-inspired by leeann's superb spaghetti carbonara. that's a knock out of the park each time, but for me this week's weeknight pasta was a success to the last bite.
As always, this sounds delish. I made some broccoli and pasta last night that was very good. kind of a variation on the Moosewood recipe. Yours is healthier though....
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