One Pot BLT Pasta

BLT….bacon, linguine and tomato!  Don’t t flavors just sound delicious?  Plus, the entire dish can be made in one pot!  That sealed the deal for me since I hate, hate, hate to do dishes!

The Recipe

12 slices of bacon, divided
4 cups chicken broth
2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
12 oz uncooked linguine pasta
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley, chopped
4 oz cream cheese
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
Halved grape tomatoes

Slice the bacon cross wise into strips.  Cook in a large skillet with high sides for 8-9 minutes, or until crisp.  Remove bacon and drain on paper towels.  Drain skillet, leaving 1 tbsp of bacon drippings in the skillet.

Place broth and diced tomatoes in a large bowl.  Microwave, covered, on high for 6-8 minutes or until hot.  Return skillet to heat and add onion and red pepper flakes.  Saute for 2-3 minutes or until tender.  Add garlic and cook for 10-20 seconds.  Add broth mixture, pasta, salt and half of the cooked bacon.  Simmer covered for 9-10 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked by still firm.  Stir occasionally.

Remove skillet from heat and add cubed cream cheese, grape tomatoes and parsley, reserving 1 tbsp of parsley for garnish.  Cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until pasta is tender and sauce is thickened.  Serve with remaining bacon, grated Parmesan cheese and reserved parsley.

Is it a Keeper?

This was FANTASTIC!  I will definitely be making this again (and again and again)!  I used whole grain pasta — which I like much better than regular pasta because it’s heartier.  There is so much flavor and the cream cheese makes the sauce very creamy and rich.  I can’t wait to make this again with tomatoes from my garden!

Even my husband, who’s been sick with a summer cold and can’t taste or smell anything, was raving!  I guess the crushed red pepper and garlic flavors powered through! I think the leftovers are going to be quite tasty too!  I’ll know for sure tomorrow when I have it for lunch.  Yum!  Yum!  Yum!

Oh and I loved that there was only one pot to clean. One pot, one cutting board, one knife and one measuring cup.  That’s it.  Not a sink full of dirty dishes.  I’m sure my sick husband really appreciated that since he was the one that ended up doing the dishes.  He knows how much I hate to do them!  I’m a pretty lucky lady, aren’t I?  He even does laundry too!

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