Leftovers Garlic & Bacon Spaghetti

You can make a really great weeknight meal with very few ingredients. What is nice about this kind of dish is that it can be made in about 15-20 minutes and it will appeal to just about everybody. I make mine with bacon as I always find that I buy a pack of bacon and only have need for half of it. On that note, substitute in any meat you have leftover here and it will work just fine.

Gather the Good Stuff

Enough spaghetti for 2-4 people
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup bread crumbs - I used panko here but any will do
6-8 cloves of garlic - sliced
6 strips of bacon - or any other protein you have leftover
3/4 cup - Parmesan cheese - shredded
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Putting it all Together

Heat oven to 200C and spread breadcrumbs out onto pan for toasting
Dice bacon into small portions - ditto if you are using another protein
Add to a cold pan and turn heat to medium. Cook until bacon releases it's fat and is golden and crispy
Meanwhile put your breadcrumb pan into the hot oven and toast until golden - 3-5 minutes
Remove bacon from pan and set aside in a paper towel lined bowl. Pour off bacon grease from the pan but do not wash
Allow pan to cool - this is important
Salt a pot of water and put it on to boil. Once boiling, add spaghetti
To your now cooled pan, add 1/2 cup oilve oil and sliced garlic
Raise heat to low and allow garlic to toast in the oil. Do not rush the garlic, you want it to cook for about 10 minutes in the low heat and just toast in the oil
Meanwhile remove spaghetti when cooked al dente. Reserve a small amount of the cooking water and strain the rest. Transfer to serving dish
After 10 minutes or so the garlic should be golden brown. To stop the cooking process spoon in 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water
First, add oil and garlic mixture to your pasta, toss well. Next add breadcrumbs, cheese, bacon and salt and pepper and toss again. Finally top with a little more cheese and serve.

Comments

Chicken Paprikesh

One thing we all appreciate about chicken is how nicely it can be transformed into something awesome and in pretty short order. This dish certainly fits that bill. It won't take you much more than 25 minutes to prepare and I'm confident how pleasantly surprised you'll be with the work / reward ratio of this dish. Key things to focus on are using a good smokey paprika and making sure you take the time to brown the onions well.

Gather the good stuff:1 Tbsp butter or better Chicken legs and thighs. Enough to fill a big pan. 2 or 3 Yellow onions - sliced. 1 Tbs of paprika. I use smoked but you can use regular paprika as well 1 cup chicken broth at room temperature1/2 cup sour cream Putting this together Cut your chicken into thighs and drumsticks. Pat dry and salt well. Meanwhile slice your onions and set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a heavy pan on medium high heat . Fry chicken skin side down for 5 minutes or until skin easily lifts off the pan. Flip chicken and fry for another 3…

Loco Moco

The first time I had this I was on the big island of Hawaii and I had never heard of it before my now wife and I walked into a small diner in some tiny town that I can’t even remember the name of. I do remember that we had both had too much wine the night before and this particular menu item jumped right out at me as something that might help with that. I’ve since learned that this is the quintessential Hawaiian comfort food and if you decide to make it, you’ll appreciate why.
Key things to look out for: How you season the patty is going to greatly colour the dish. I like Cajun spices but you do you Don’t wipe out the pan in between the patties and the gravy. The fondant is exactly what you’re after when making a good gravy

Gather the good StuffPatties
Ground beef - enough for a few small patties. Probably about 400g or so. I like them on the thinner side but you do you Cajun seasoning to taste Garlic salt to taste Black pepper to taste 1 egg Gravy 1.5 cups beef broth 2 tbsp soy sauce …

Gloriously Garlic Noodles

This is a dish that you can have on the table in 20 minutes or less. It has relatively simple ingredients that pack a ton of flavour. It's also open to a lot of variation. I like to serve it with shrimp as shown but really any protein will work, seafood being the fastest one to add. Also, feel free to play with the amount of garlic. The recipe that follows is on the extreme end of how much you want to put it in there. if you find garlic a little overpowering, or you have a dentist appointment the next day, maybe tone it down a bit. Gather the Good Stuff In regards to the sauce, you can be pretty loose with the quantities. If you like it a little saltier, use more soy sauce. If you like it a little hotter, add a little more cayenne. For the noodles, literally any noodles will do. I used the standard spaghetti but that's just because it is what I had on hand. 2 Tbsp soy sauce - a shot of a thicker darker one is probably a good idea. if you use one that is too light you'll m…

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