The lack of exercise along with late-night blogging and snacking at weird hours this past year added some pounds on me. Therefore my only new year resolution for 2012 is to live and eat healthy by sleeping earlier, doing exercise regularly, and controlling the portion of food I eat. I think we eat pretty healthy since I cook almost every meal and the majority of meals are low-fat Japanese dishes. However, I do have some weaknesses. I love rice, pasta, bread…all kinds of carbs. It’s so hard to stop eating them once I have one bite.
With this new year’s resolution, I purposely avoided pasta dishes for a while. Then a few weeks ago I saw this post from my fellow blogger friend Katerhine’s blog, Katherine Martinelli, and I decided to take a break from my new year resolution and cook this. This recipe calls for ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. Nothing fancy, just a couple of ingredients you normally use. Toss everything in the pan and add cooked pasta, and it’s done! It’s the day after a busy weekend and you don’t know what to cook for dinner? Here it is, cook this simple and delicious pasta. Your dinner is ready in 30 minutes!
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Tomato Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz spaghetti (4 oz/113 g per person)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 slices applewood smoked bacon (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- ¼ onion (chopped)
- ½ tsp red chili pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1 can diced tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz, 411 g)
- kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup chopped parsley (loosely packed)
- Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese (freshly grated)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. When it’s done, reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water and drain. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat oil on medium heat in a skillet and add the bacon. Cook until just browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and onion and cook until the onion is translucent.
- Add the red chili pepper flakes, tomatoes, and ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water and stir to combine.
- Allow to simmer, and then cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Make sure the sauce has good strong flavor, so when you add pasta it balance out the flavor.
- Add the spaghetti and parsley and toss to coat.
- Top with freshly grated Parmesan and serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
