Skillet Pasta with Bacon
By Audrey Plant
Ingredients
1 Box (16 ounces) orecchiette, pasta of your choice
1-pound thick cut bacon, diced
1-pint cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 large red onion, diced
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup frozen peas
Shaved parmesan cheese, cheese of your choice
1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional
fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Using a sheet pan, coat tomatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in oven and roast for 15 minutes or until tomatoes are blistered and skin has popped. Remove from oven, set aside.
3. Dice up bacon into ½ inch pieces, set aside.
4. In a large pot, boil pasta in salted water using the instructions on the box.
5. Rinse pasta with water and drizzle olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking. Set aside.
6. Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat, add diced bacon and brown for 5-6 minutes until golden brown.
7. Turn heat down to medium-low.
8. Using a slotted spoon, spoon out crispy bacon onto a paper towel lined plate. Leave remaining bacon fat in skillet.
9. Add diced onion to skillet and sauté for 3-4 minutes until translucent. There will be brown bits in skillet. Add wine and deglaze the pan, use a spoon, scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the skillet.
10. Add frozen peas and cooked pasta to skillet. Cook peas for 1-2 minutes. Remove skillet off of heat.
11. Add roasted tomatoes, fold pasta mixture until just combined.
12. Sprinkle crispy bacon on top. Using a cheese grater, grate fresh parmesan cheese generously over skillet. Sprinkle lemon zest on top. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes:
1. Bacon fat will smoke if the heat is too high. Turn down the heat to help control the temperature.
2. Use any dry white wine.
