All the elements of a BLT combine with penne pasta and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 4servings
Ingredients
12ouncespenne pasta
8slicesbacon
1medium red onionchopped
3clovesgarlicchopped
¼teaspoonred pepper flakes
1teaspoonsalt
4cupschopped tomatoesor cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
⅓cuphalf-and-half or cream
4cupsarugula
2tablespoonschopped fresh basilabout 10-12 leaves
4tablespoonsgrated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Cook the penne according to the package directions. While the penne is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe.
Cook the bacon until crispy. Drain the bacon reserving 3 tablespoons of the drippings. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
In the same pan with the reserved bacon drippings, add the red onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and salt. Cook until the onion has wilted and begun to soften.
Add the tomatoes. Stir together well and cook for about 12-15 minutes.
Add the cream or half-and-half and cook for additional 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta and add to the pan along with the arugula, bacon and basil. Toss together. Add a splash or two of the pasta cooking water if needed.
Top individual servings with Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Use any tube style pasta you like for this recipe. Ziti, rigatoni, even rotini work great.
Start cooking the sauce when you put the pasta water on to boil. The pasta will be ready at about the same time as the sauce. Big time saver!
If you have leftover bacon, feel free to use it. Otherwise, start your sauce by cooking the bacon and draining all but a couple of tablespoons of the fat from the skillet.