BACON & CASTELVETRANO TAGLIATELLE
Quick and delicious, the best thing I’ve made all week
Quick and delicious, the best thing I’ve made all week
If you make this, tag @forliving.co on Instagram— would love to see!
This is the perfect recipe for you if you’re wondering what to do with that leftover bit of tomato paste, last few strips of bacon, splash of heavy cream or handful of olives sitting in your fridge. When I drafted this up in my notes last month, I chaotically dubbed it the “quick staple leftover whatever pasta” because this was very much an end-of-the-week, let’s see what we can make of what’s in the fridge moment that turned out to be incredibly delicious and very worthy of repeating. Hope you enjoy! Serves 2, 25 mins active time
Ingredients:
2/3 cup bacon roughly chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (3 thick strips for me)
6 garlic cloves smashed and roughly chopped
Leaves from 2 (3”) oregano sprigs + 2 small sprigs for serving
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2/3 cup Castelvetrano olives roughly chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pecorino finely grated + more for serving
8oz Tagliatelle or any pasta you’ve got (about half of a large package)
Freshly ground black pepper & kosher salt
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup pasta water
Flaky salt for serving
Drizzle of olive oil for serving
Place a large cast iron over medium heat for about five minutes. Add the 2/3 cup of bacon, swirling around the pan, leaving space in between pieces. Leave undisturbed for two minutes, then add the 6 garlic cloves and the leaves from 2 oregano sprigs, swirling so the ingredients start to combine. Turn the heat down to medium-low.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. I generally stop about one minute short of the cook time (so the pasta is al dente) when adding it to a warm pan after boiling. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.
3. Once the garlic starts turning golden, another minute or two, add the 3 Tbsp tomato paste into a clear space in the pan, letting it sit for 30 seconds, then use a spatula to fold into all other ingredients. Season with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt. Continue stirring around the pan constantly for 5 minutes until everything is well incorporated and the tomato paste has darkened slightly.4. Add the 2/3 cup olives to the pan, once again swirling to coat, and turn the heat down to low. Leave undisturbed for 3-4 minutes. Pour the 1/2 cup of heavy cream into the pan, swirling to combine until the sauce resembles the color of a vodka sauce: a nice and velvety orange. Add the pinch of red pepper flakes, and combine once again.
5. Pour the drained pasta into the pan, along with a splash of the reserved pasta water (I generally end up using about 1/8 cup) swirling to coat, and grate the 1/2 cup of pecorino over the pasta, and continue to fold until creamy and fully coated.
6. To serve, add pasta to two dishes (make sure to pull lots of bacon and olive bits from the pan), top with a drizzle of olive oil, a showering of pecorino, freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of flaky salt, and the small oregano sprigs.
More soon!
