Pasta with Bacon and Leeks

Food Network magazine this month featured Bacon.  This recipe was on their front cover and was easy and delicious!  The magazine is being treated like a work of art in my house and the guys are pouring over each page of bacon goodness :)  Enjoy!

Source: Food Network

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• 12 ounces mezzi rigatoni (or other short pasta)
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 bunch leeks (white and light green parts only), halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and rinsed well
• Freshly ground pepper
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water; drain the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings from the skillet.
3. Add the leeks to the drippings in the skillet. Season with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook until it begins to thicken, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the pasta to the skillet along with the parmesan, half of the bacon and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat, adding enough of the reserved pasta cooking water to loosen. To serve, top with the remaining bacon, and more parmesan.

BBQ pork stuffed sweet potato

This recipe is super easy - only 3 ingredients and it cooks in the crock pot while you are at work.  What could be easier than that.... Delicious!

Source: Adapted from The Novice Chef Blog

Ingredients:
2 lb pork loin
1 jar Sweet Baby Ray's Original BBQ Sauce
4 large sweet potatoes

Instructions:
Put the pork loin and the BBQ sauce in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

While pork is cooking, bake your sweet potatoes:
Preheat oven to 400°. Scrub potatoes under water and wrap in foil. Bake in oven for about 1 hour.  Remove pork from crock pot and shred the meat.

When ready to serve, cut a a slit in the sweet potato, lengthwise. Grab the potato from both ends and press together to open the sweet potato up. Fill each sweet potato with a generous helping of pulled pork and top with an extra drizzle of BBQ Sauce. Serve immediately!

Hawaiian Tacos

A friend and co-worker of mine shared these fabulous tortillas that her mother-in-law brought her.  These are the real deal tortillas and I searched the Internet for something amazing to make with them, although it was tempting just to warm them up and eat them straight. 

This dinner was ready in under 15 minutes and is perfect for one of those nights when you are tempted to just drive thru somewhere.  If you have 15 min. to wait in a drive thru line then you have time to make these amazing tacos!

Adapted from source:Taste and Tell

Ingredients:
Tortillas
1 lb ground pork
1 cup BBQ sauce
Mango Salsa - I took the easy way and bought mango salsa already prepared in the produce section. 
Or, you can make your own - Mango Salsa

Instructions:
1. Brown the pork and when it is finished drain.
2. Add the BBQ sauce to the pork and warm
3. Heat each tortilla by adding a bit of butter to a skillet and heating tortillas 1 by 1 on each side for 15-20 seconds.
4. Add the pork and mango salsa to each taco and enjoy!

BLT Pasta

If you love BLT sandwiches then you will absolutely love this pasta!  Instead of Lettuce for the L there is spinach in this recipe - so it is BST pasta - it just doesn't have the same ring to it.   I'll stick with BLT pasta.

Source: Mix and Match Mama Blog

Ingredients:
8-10 cloves roasted garlic (I found these at the olive bar in my grocery store)

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1/2 pound  pasta (I used whole wheat fettuccine)

10-12 pieces of bacon, chopped (you can use regular or turkey bacon)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 cups spinach leaves

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

8-10 basil leaves, torn or chopped

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Salt and Pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Take a baking sheet (line it with foil for easy clean up) and spread out cherry tomatoes.  Drizzle tomatoes with EVOO and sprinkle salt and pepper over all of them.  Bake for 15 minutes. 

3. While the tomatoes are roasting, bring a large pot of water to boil, drop pasta and cook until al dente (approx. 7-8 minutes).

4. Meanwhile, over medium-high heat, heat a tablespoon of EVOO.  Once hot, add in chopped bacon to brown (about 6 minutes). Add in chicken stock and salt and pepper to your bacon pan and lower the heat to medium-low and simmer 3-5 minutes. 

5. Stir in your spinach, roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic pieces to the bacon pan.

6. Drain pasta and add to bacon mixture.  Stir in cheese and basil.

Pork with Squash, Apricots & Prunes

Before the crock pot season is over, I wanted to make sure and squeeze this dish in!  I served this for a small gathering with my parents and my Mom's cousin, Debbie.  Such a fun night!

Source: My friend Becca
Ingredients:
3 lb. boneless pork loin
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 T grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dried prunes

Instructions:
Mix brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper together and rub on the pork loin.  Put the pork into a crock pot.  Place the apricots, prunes and squash on top of the pork.  (It seamed a little strange to me that there was no liquid added, but don't worry the squash will cook and produce enough moisture).

Cook on high setting for 1 hour and then on low for 6-7 hours (until the pork reaches an internal temp of 180).

Sausage, Caramelized Onion & Basil Pizza

I watched the Giada De Laurentiis make this pizza on Food Network TV.  Pizza with no red (or white) sauce...I was intrigued.  Besides, it has caramelized onions and that is one of my favorite ingredients!  I had to try it and was not disappointed.

Source: Food Network
Ingredients:
1/2 (13 to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough

extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

1/2 cup caramelized onions (see my post)

1/2 pound spicy turkey or pork sausage, casings removed, crumbled

1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or blue cheese

1/8 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

 

Instructions

Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.

In a large skillet, on med-high heat add sausage and cook for 6 min.  Using a wooden spoon to break up sausage.  Add caramelized onions and cook for 2 more minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch diameter circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the onion mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped basil. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve.