Ingredients

• 250g pasta
  • Fusilli, farfelle, or linguini recommended
• 200g bacon lardons
  • (Or 6 rashers of back bacon, chopped)
• 3/4 spring onions
  • Chopped
• 1 pepper
  • Chopped
• 2/3 cloves of garlic
  • Crushed
• 150g crème fraîche
• 50g hard cheese
  • Pecorino or parmesan recommended
  • Grated

Instructions

1. Put the pasta in a pan with a little salt, then pour over boiling water until well covered. Bring to the boil, then simmer for ~10 minutes (according to the pack instructions). Drain and put to one side, keeping a little of the pasta water for the sauce (about 25ml)
2. Fry the bacon in a large pan or wok for ~7 minutes, until beginning to crisp up.
3. Add the spring onions, pepper, and garlic to the pan and continue to fry for ~7 more minutes until the pepper is softened.
4. Add the crème fraîche, cheese, and saved pasta water, and mix thoroughly until the cheese is melted into the sauce.
5. Add the pasta to the pan, and mix until well coated and the bacon is evenly distributed throughout.

Serve with a little additional grated cheese on top.

Advice

I tend to start boiling the kettle as I turn the hob on for the bacon. Sometimes, depending on how quick I am, the pasta is done before the sauce is ready for the water, sometimes after. But in general, they take a similar amount of time.

I tend to store the chopped veg in the same bowl I plan to serve in whilst I wait for the bacon to fry. I then add the crème fraîche directly from the tub, and just dump until I’ve added about 150g. I weigh the container to see how much it decreases. I use the same tactic with the cheese, though I grate that into a separate bowl and have generally learnt to eyeball it by this point.

This does not freeze well, as the crème fraîche in the sauce doesn’t like freezing and reheating. But it does keep well in the fridge for a few days, then reheat nicely.

A tbsp of lemon juice could go nicely in the sauce as well, instead of the pasta water. (Full disclosure, I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to now that I’ve had the idea. I’ll edit with my thoughts on it soon …)