Pasta with Romano Beans and Crispy Bacon

Pasta with Romano Beans and Crispy Bacon

This is a complete pantry dish.  I love this because it’s hearty, healthy, yummy and dare I say, cheap?  The most expensive aspect of this dish is the bacon and really, you’re only using two strips (check out the notes!).

Serves 4

2 Strips of bacon, sliced

1 Medium onion, diced

3 Cloves garlic, crushed

¼ Cup white wine

1 796 ml can of whole tomatoes

1 540 ml can of Romano beans, rinsed

Handful flat leaf (Italian) parsley, coarsely chopped

Handful basil, coarsely chopped

Salt

Pepper

1 375g box of whole wheat pasta (I used spaghetti)

–  Heat a large saucepot over medium-high heat, when it’s hot, add the bacon.  Fry the bacon until it is browned and crispy and has given off its fat.

–  Using a slotted spoon remove the pieces of bacon and set aside on a paper towel lined plate to rest.

–  Discard the excess bacon fat from the pot.

–  Return the pot to the heat, add and sauté the onion; season with salt and pepper.  Do not add any more fat to the pan, trust me, there’s enough.

–  After the onions have softened, about 5-7 minutes, add the garlic.  Let the garlic brown for about 30 seconds, careful to not let it burn.

–  Turn the heat to high and add the white wine.  Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any of the flavours (deglazing).  Let the wine boil for about a minute to cook off the alcohol.

–  Add the tomatoes, once the sauce comes to a boil, drop the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for up to an hour, breaking the tomatoes down a bit using the back of a spoon.

–  Season with salt and pepper.

–  Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta according to box directions.

–  Add the Romano beans to the tomato sauce; season with salt and pepper.

–  When the pasta is cooked, add the fresh herbs to the tomato sauce; mix well.

–  Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning.

–  To serve, return the pasta to the pot it was boiled in and add some of the tomato sauce; mix well.

–  Place the pasta on a platter or large bowl and then top it with the beans and tomato sauce mixture.

–  Top the sauce with the bacon pieces.

Notes:

1. If you don’t have white wine on hand then red would work.
2. If you’re not going to use wine then you can use stock (beef, veggie or chicken) or even water.
3. If you’re going to use turkey bacon then you’ll have to add some oil (extra virgin) to the pot when frying the bacon because it doesn’t give off enough fat.
4. Yes, bacon!  There are 200 calories in two strips of bacon but by discarding the excess fat you are also discarding about 100 of the calories.
5. Skip the bacon entirely to make this an all veggie meal.