Pasta with Bacon, Spinach and Breadcrumbs

Bacon...Bacon...Bacon can be crispy, chewy, fried, broiled and oh my even deep fried. Bacon can be sweet,smokey, salty and peppery. One thing for sure bacon is one of the palate's pleasures.

This week at IHCC we are bringing home the bacon and oh Yes, it's frying in my skillet! Pasta with Bacon,Spinach, and Breadcrumbs is the Mark Bittman recipe I chose to prepare this week.

I found the recipe online. Mr. Bittman was preparing pasta dishes! YUM. Here is the link:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/31412965

This was a very quick and easy recipe.However, I prepared the spinach differently than the recipe. I fried the bacon while the pasta water heated. As the pasta cooked, I added the garlic and spinach to a very small amount of the bacon drippings. The spinach cooked pretty fast and also cooked down in amount as well. The bacon was snipped into bite size pieces and mixed into the pasta/spinach mixture.

I did not add any olive oil. I felt there was "enough" added oil by using the bacon drippings. I did use Parmesan cheese to top off the dish. The pepper flakes gave a hint of a kick, not a hard "kick". Spinach goes so well with bacon, or should I say bacon goes so well with spinach?

My house smelled delicious! I forgot to add the breadcrumbs. No time was wasted as we were ready to sit down and eat. I plan on preparing this dish again. It was a quick,delicious, comfort dish.


I am also sending this in to http://www.prestopastanights.com/ which is being hosted this week by Pam at http://sidewalkshoes.blogspot.com/

Pasta with Bacon,Spinach,and Breadcrumbs (oops I forgot the breadcrumbs)

Adapted from Mark Bittman

• 1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and slivered
• 1 cup of homemade breadcrumbs
  
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• Salt
• Remaining spinach (about 3/4 pound), washed and trimmed
• 1 pound spaghetti or other pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or more as needed
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Baking Directions

Method:

1. Put the bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until it begins to brown and renders fat. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Add the garlic to the bacon fat, and cook, stirring occasionally until just fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the breadcrumbs and red pepper flakes, if using, and continue cooking and stirring until the garlic is lightly crisp and the breadcrumbs are just golden. Remove the garlic and breadcrumbs from the pan and set aside.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Cook the spinach until it's soft, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the spinach from the pan with a slotted spoon or small strainer, drain well, chop, and set aside. Using the same pot of boiling water, cook the pasta.

4. While the pasta cooks, add the oil to the skillet and warm over medium-low heat. Add the drained spinach and toss well with the oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. When the spinach is warm add the bacon, garlic, and breadcrumbs back to the pan and mix well.

5. When the pasta is done, drain it, and add it to the skillet with the spinach, bacon, garlic, and breadcrumbs; toss until well combined. If the mixture is dry, drizzle with a bit of olive oil; adjust the seasonings, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like.