Easy Tomato Bacon Pasta
An easy tomato bacon pasta with crispy bacon tossed through a rich garlic and tomato sauce with an optional kick of chili, finished with parmesan and butter for a glossy finish. A comforting pasta dinner that comes together in about 20 minutes.
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients
- 150-200 grams bacon, cut into small pieces (see notes)
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, finely diced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (chili flakes) feel free to use more
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 x 400 gram tin whole tomatoes (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 25 grams parmesan, finely grated
- ½ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Get a pot of well salted water on to boil so it is ready to cook the pasta when you add the tomatoes to skillet.
- I like to blitz the canned tomatoes in a blender or with a stick blender before starting the sauce. It makes a thicker, richer sauce.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until the fat has rendered and the bacon is golden and crisp, around 8–10 minutes.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.
- Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened and glassy. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and smoked paprika and cook for another minute.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute.
- Pour in the tomatoes and return the bacon to the pan and gently simmer for 10 minutes while you cook your pasta.
- When your pasta is just about done, add the butter and ¼ cup of pasta water into the sauce and mix in well.
- Add the cooked pasta along with the parmesan and toss continuously over low heat until the sauce coats the pasta evenly. Add more pasta water if needed.
- Serve with the Italian parsley if using and extra parmesan cheese on top.
Video
Notes
Bacon - I prefer streaky bacon, it's more delicious and has enough fat to render down to create a nice base. Use whatever you personally prefer. I have given a weight variation just depending on how bacon-y you want it. I had 170 grams.
Tinned tomatoes - The tomatoes make a big difference to this, try and find whole peeled Italian tomatoes. The trick is finding ones sitting in a thick puree rather than a watery juice.
Spice - The red pepper flakes (chili flakes) are optional, add more or less depending on your spice preference.
Parmesan - Freshly grate your parmesan if possible as pre-grated parmesan doesn’t melt into sauce as smoothly.