Bacon and Bean Pasta

If you are like me, there are some days you forget to pull out some meat for dinner. So you end up eating out, eating sandwiches, or eating breakfast. Well I have a better recipe! Bacon and Bean Pasta. It is fabulous! and easy!! I remember seeing Lidia Bastianich on her cooking show and being in love just from watching it on tv. So I had to make it that night!! This has become somewhat of a regular dish in my house. And that is saying something. I typically do not like to make food that becomes "regulars". I like the excitement of trying new foods and dishes and techniques. But this one slipped in. And the great thing about this dish was I was able to make it while Alex was deployed. When you get sick and tired of eating cereal and PB&J I would make this dish and then have instant dinner for at least 2 if not 3 meals! So this week I forgot to pull out meat! So I decided on this pasta dish.

1/2 box small pasta ( prefer orecchiette pasta, but any medium sized pasta will do)
4-5 strips of bacon, diced
5-6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (not minced!!)
1 rib of celery, finely diced
1T tomato paste or 2T tomato sauce
1 can Cannellini, Great White Northern, or Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2T fresh chopped rosemary
1/2t red pepper flakes
parmesan cheese

Start cooking pasta according to directions. Cook 1 minute less than the box states to finish cooking in the sauce. Save your pasta water!

Saute your diced bacon in a large skillet. Once browned, remove from pan and drain on paper towel.

Using your bacon fat, saute garlic and celery until the garlic browns. Add in tomato paste or sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add beans, rosemary, salt, and red pepper. Gently simmer until the sauce reduces slightly. There will be very little liquid in the pan.

Add the cooked pasta and coat the pasta with the sauce. Add 1T of pasta water to sauce to loosen. Add more pasta water as needed until sauce reaches right conistency.

Spoon into bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese!

Talk about fabulous!! And easy to boot. I promise this one will become a regular in your collection too!!