I prepared a new pasta recipe for you. This time I made spaghetti with Brussels sprouts and bacon. Who doesn’t like spaghetti? It’s the most popular pasta on planet Earth. It’s delicious, fun to eat, budget-friendly goes perfectly with every sauce and it’s a portion of great comfort food.
What is your typical spaghetti recipe? I would say is spaghetti alla Bolognese. Am I right? Hehehe. Therefore, try this new variation of spaghetti with Brussels sprouts and bacon. It’s easy, quick and tastes fantastic.
Another good news for all the moms; with this recipe, no tomato sauce will end splattering on clean shirts and tablecloths. That’s already a good reason why you should try this recipe.
Ingredients for four portions of spaghetti with Brussels sprouts and bacon:
- 250 g spaghetti
- 500 g Brussels sprouts
- 50 g pine nuts
- 125 g bacon (cubes)
- salt, pepper
- olive oil
First of all clean the Brussels sprouts. Cut off the bottom and discard the first layer of leaves (if bad). Wash them and put them in a larger pan. Add some water (enough to cover 2 cm of the bottom) and blanch them for about 5 minutes.
In the meantime take a larger pot and fill it halfway up with water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to boil. Here is a quick tip on how to prevent the pasta from sticking. Take your spaghetti above the pot. Then wrap both hands around the middle part of spaghetti, slightly twist each hand in the opposite direction (like you would do at the Mikado game) and release it in the water.
The spaghetti will spread out like a flower or a big yellow sun. You don’t need to add any oil. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until “al dente”.
The Brussels sprouts should be done by now. Discard all the water from the pan. I used the same pan also for bacon because I like to keep it simple and not using twenty pots for a simple dish. I am not a chef with kitchen helpers.
So, after you discard the water, put the pan back on the stove, drizzle with some olive oil and add the bacon cubes and pine nuts to it. Let the bacon cook for about 8 minutes. Give it an occasional stir. The bacon will release the fat and give the flavour also to the Brussels sprouts.
I also added one ladle of pasta water to the pan, in order to make all the ingredients nicely combine together. Then, drain the pasta and add it to the pan. Toss well and add some black pepper.
Finally, serve the spaghetti with Brussels sprouts and bacon directly in the pan or on a bigger pasta plate. Now, grab a fork and twirl some spaghetti around it. No spoon needed. The “rule” says you should use a spoon only with a very liquid sauce. However, in the end, nobody sees you. Heheheh.
Enjoy!
