Let be real a bad dish never started with bacon. In all seriousness though Pasta, Peas, and Bacon hits close to home and is ridiculously easy to make. So why is it called pasta, peas, and bacon? Well those are 60% of the ingredients… that’s right there are only 5 ingredients. That makes 3 easy recipes in a row, don’t worry my 3-hour Bolognese, and Asian short-ribs are coming soon.
Growing up in the 90’s in a non-Italian household pasta was either spaghetti or macaroni with Ragu meat sauce, and I am not talking about the homemade kind. We just weren’t pasta people, but also does anyone feel like there are just more options these days? On occasion however, my mother would make pasta, peas, and bacon. 20 years later it’s still one of my favorite simple pasta dishes. Maybe it’s the sweet onions and peas, but let’s be real it’s probably the bacon that makes this dish so great.
What You’ll Need
- Pasta – Linguini is the preferred pasta, but feel free to swap it out.
- Bacon
- Peas – Frozen or canned peas work here. I find that canned peas are softer so if you go the canned route just be careful when you are folding in the pasta.
- Onion – Yellow.
- Parmesan Cheese – Freshly grated, HOWEVER growing up it was the powdered stuff you find in the non refrigerator section. If that’s all you have use it.
Let’s talk bacon for a second. The bacon needs to be pan fried and chopped before putting this dish all together. This is the bulk of the work. Cook it in sections and don’t overcrowd the pan. When cooking the bacon, you want to cook it so you have a combo of both really crispy pieces as well as some fatty pieces as well. Do not overcook it! Call me crazy, but before you throw out that bacon grease STOP! You need it. You need to add the bacon grease (some not all) back in to cook the onions and peas and then some more when tossing the pasta.
A Few Extra Tips
I usually like to reserve this spot to give you a few tips, talk out some trouble shooting, or give you some alternatives. This dish doesn’t need it, it is that simple. However if you are interested in other pasta recipes check out Lemon Caper Pasta and Spicy Vodka Rigatoni
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Pasta, Peas, and Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 lb linguini
- 1 package bacon
- 1 onion yellow
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 15 oz peas canned of frozen
Instructions
- Pan fry the bacon in sections being sure not to overcrowd the pan. Remove the bacon and give it a rough chop. Save for later.
- Remove 3/4 of the bacon grease and reserve it for later. In the remaining bacon grease sauté onions with a pinch of salt. Cook for 5-7 minutes until onions have sweated out and are translucent.
- Add back the bacon and peas and give it a gentle toss.
- Add pasta, parmesan cheese, and some of the bacon grease back in. The amount is up to you I typically add 1 tbsp back in to loosen the pasta and bring the dish together.
