Spend a few minutes with me and I might pester you about what you are making for dinner, what and where you’ve eaten out recently and generally all things food-related. If you are a food lover, like me, you may enjoy the conversation. Otherwise, you might not be interested at all. For those of you who enjoy talking about food to a level that is somewhat obsessive and may be annoying to others, come sit next to me!
My discussions about food with my friends inspire me. Whether it is walking through farmer’s markets and stores, seeing fresh, seasonal produce, or chatting with friends and hearing about what they are putting on the dinner table, inspiration is everywhere!
Last Friday, my friend Aurora, who also has 3 boys and loves to cook, was over with her kids. We have very different styles. She favors more complex, french-inspired recipes. I am an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type of chef. Regardless, I always love to hear about what she is putting on the table. Before she left that day she said, “I gotta run and get dinner ready”. My immediate response was “What’s for dinner?” Aurora said something along the lines of “A pasta dish. It’s not gluten free but maybe you can adapt it. I sauté bacon, take it out of the pan, sauté some onions and garlic, cut tomatoes in quarters, cover them with the bacon-garlic mixture, roast them for a little bit and then toss them with the pasta along with thinly sliced fresh mozzarella and some basil.” Um. Aurora, you had me at sautéed bacon!!!
I knew I had to try the recipe ASAP. I did just that a few nights ago. Luckily for me, I had recently been at the farmer’s market in Irvington and picked up fresh mozzarella as well as yellow and red grape tomatoes. I swear those yellow tomatoes tasted like candy! It was almost a crime to cook them. However, the result was amazing! I used my grape tomatoes and shallots as an adaptation to the recipe but I’m sure Aurora’s original recipe tastes amazing as well. Enjoy!
- 1 12oz bag of Bionaturea gluten free fussili (or any other kind you like)
- 3 slices of bacon, chopped
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb grape tomatoes, halved or campari tomatoes, quartered
- Salt, pepper and sugar to taste (I always add a pinch of sugar to tomatoes to reduce acidity)
- ¼ lb diced fresh mozzarella
- Basil leaves torn for garnish and to add flavor at the end
- Preheat oven at 425 degrees
- Cook bacon in sauté pan until crispy
- Remove bacon, leave oil in pan
- Place chopped shallot and minced garlic in pan. Sauté until translucent and slightly brown at edges
- Slice tomatoes and put in a small baking dish
- Cover tomatoes with bacon, shallots and garlic and toss to coat
- Roast at 425 degrees for 25 minutes
- While roasting tomatoes, boil water and cook pasta
- Once tomatoes are roasted and pasta is cooked, combine all ingredients and add fresh mozzarella and basil to toss. Pasta should be hot and mozzarella should melt and become stringy. So good! Enjoy!
This was so easy to make and was very yummy! The whole family loved it!