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We recently attended theannual Chiles and Chocolate Festival in Phoenix. It was my kind of culinary heaven! Â We found this stand selling freshly made pasta and fell in love with their lemon striped farfalle pasta. Â I couldn’t wait to make something light and fresh with the pasta and after picking dozens of lemons from our neighbor’s trees, I felt I had the perfect combo. You will love this pasta!
This Lemon Garlic and Crispy Bacon Pasta is made by first sauteing onion and garlic in butter. Farfalle is cooked until al dente and is tossed with the garlic butter and fresh lemon juice. It is topped with crispy bacon, parmesan cheese, fresh parsley and crunchy pine nuts. Â It is such a fresh pasta dish that is perfect for Spring and Summer.
This Lemon Garlic and Crispy Bacon Pasta is such a versatile dish as you can intermix different kinds of pasta from linguine to campanelle. You can use fresh parsley or basil to add freshness. If you don’t have pine nuts on hand, use walnuts or almonds. Pancetta can be used instead of bacon as well. You can even add some chopped tomatoes to add some extra freshness and vibrant color.
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Lemon Garlic and Crispy Bacon Pasta
Equipment
- 12 inch cast iron skillet
- 10 inch cast iron skillet
- non stick skillets
- measuring cups and spoons
- spatula set
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons Butter 1 stick
- 1/2 Onion diced
- 3 Garlic Cloves diced
- 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt to taste
- 6-8 Slices Center Cut Bacon
- 1 lb. Farfalle Pasta or pasta of choice
- 1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 cup Pine Nuts
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley or basil, chopped
- Optional: 1 tomato diced
Instructions
- In medium skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until softened -- about 6-7 minutes. Toss in red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute more.
- In another skillet, cook bacon until crispy and drain on paper towel lined plate.
- Fill pot with enough water to cover pasta and heat water until boiling. Add a generous amount of salt to water. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions.
- Drain pasta. Once pasta is drained, return to pot.
- Stir in garlic butter mixture into pasta. Add lemon juice and salt.
- Place in bowls or plates and top with crispy bacon, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and fresh parsley.
- Season to taste.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was a huge hit with the family! I eliminated the red pepper flakes to make it more kid-friendly. These flavors all blend so nicely. Perfect summer pasta!
I just made this for my teen boys. A big hit! I made 4 little tweaks: 1)I let the onions and garlic simmer on low about 10 minutes total so they were super soft 2) I used unsalted butter instead of salted 3) skipped the pine nuts 4) used a whole pack of center cut bacon. It’s Just the right amount of heat. Very tasty and easy to put together..
Melissa,
Do you think that this pasta would be good with spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta? I also considered making the love machine pasta with spaghetti squash instead, but this looked particularly tasty! Thoughts?
Caroline
Hi Noelle! Thank you so much for such kind comment. I am so glad that you love the recipes on Modern Honey. I appreciate your support! – Melissa 🙂
This seems like I could eat the whole bowl all by myself… XD
Seriously, I became addicted to your recipes!