Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Campanelli with Mushrooms, Bacon, and Parmesan


For me, pasta is the ultimate comfort food. Pasta, and cheeseburgers, I love cheeseburgers. And a steak, a nice medium-rare Filet Mignon. Oh! And lobster bisque, sweet and succulent lobster bisque. Where was I? Oh yes, pasta. I find pasta to be the ultimate comfort food because it's easy to put together, and so warm and soothing to consume. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to make a truly wonderful pasta dish that can work equally well as a starter, or main course.

Finding my fridge with more mushrooms than I needed, and wanting to make good use of them, I decided to create this dish. It was absolutely delicious, and so easy. It's important, in this case, that you use the Campanelli, because those little scroll-like noodles hold onto so much of your delicious sauce.
Campanelli with Mushrooms, Bacon, and Parmesan

4 ounces Campanelli pasta
4 pieces thick bacon
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces mushrooms, sliced

2 Melissa's organic shallots, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon thyme
A glimmer of freshly grated nutmeg*

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1/2 tablespoon salt. Cook pasta according to package directions, about 10 minutes to al dente; drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water; set aside.

While pasta is cooking, rough chop bacon and cook over medium heat in a 10-inch sauté pan until crispy, about eight minutes. With a slotted spoon remove bacon to a plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons bacon grease.

To the pan in which you cooked bacon, add garlic and shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are soft. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, another 3 to 4 minutes until mushrooms are tender. Return bacon to the pan.

Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in heavy cream, stirring continuously. Slowly add Parmesan, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and nutmeg, stirring all the while. Allow to simmer 2 to 3 minutes until it reaches desired thickness. If the sauce needs thinning, stir in reserved pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Add pasta and stir to coat. Serve immediately.

This makes two main course or four starter course servings.

*There is, of course, no official measurement called "glimmer." Considering a single grating of nutmeg to be just that.



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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That looks absolutely divine! This week we are hosting our very first Whisk It Wednesday link party and I thought you might be interested in sharing there too! Thanks, Carrie

Miz Helen said...

Your Campanelli With Mushrooms and Bacon looks fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great weekend and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen

Anonymous said...

absolutely beautiful presentation and photo= being a vegetarian I can appreciate the abundance of mushrooms. I have too many in the refrigerator right now too. Hmmm.. what can I create?