15 Minute Bacon & Tomato Pasta, 4 points+

Happy Saturday all!  This is one of the recipes that I fell in love with this summer.  There are 3 words that will get me to try almost any recipe —> Bacon + Tomatoes + Pasta! What’s not to love right?  But, wait, it gets even better….this literally takes less than 20 minutes to make and I guarantee everyone will be telling you that you are an awesome Italian Chef and asking you when you can make this amazing dish again.  Ok, maybe I exaggerate a little bit….but, it really is just that dang good.

The one word of caution I’d give you all is go ahead and make up more than the 8 slices of bacon this recipe calls for because you know you will be stealing the crumbles (hoping nobody notices) before the bacon gets tossed with the pasta, parmesan and basil. 

I have been known to spend my time at the grocery store flipping through as many magazines as I can before I have to check out.  Lucky for me, I saw a recipe for a BLT Skillet and thought – what a great idea and here is my healthy spin on this simple, tasty pasta dish! 

BACON AND TOMATO PASTA (print it!)

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces whole wheat or multi-grain linguine
• 8 slices center cut bacon
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 cup pasta water, reserved
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 cup parmesan shredded
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• Sea salt and Black Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook pasta according to packaged instructions in salted water. 

2. In a large nonstick skillet, cook bacon until crispy.  Remove from pan, crumble into pieces and set aside.  Remove all but 1 Tbsp. of the bacon drippings from the pan.  Add the tomatoes and garlic, cooking 2 – 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. To the pan, add the bacon, lemon juice, lemon zest, cooked linguine, 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, basil and parmesan.  Gently toss everything together.  Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Dive in!

Makes 6 heaping 1 1/4 cups servings, 4 points+ or Simply Filling + 1 WPA

Nutritional information per serving calculated at caloriecount.com

Thank you all for the nice emails, comments, etc. on my last post regarding my dad and life this past year.  You helped me see the legacy he left us with the garden he built when I had not really thought of it that way before. I am truly lucky to have such amazing friends that take time to let me know it.  Your messages mean more than you know.  OK, I’ll stop being sappy there and finish with my usual…..

Night all!