Bucatini with Bacon and Gorgonzola

Name: Bucatini with Bacon and Gorgonzola Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Bucatini 200 g; Water for boiling the pasta 2 l; Salt for boiling the pasta 10 g (5 g per 1 l of water, the sauce is salty); Gorgonzola 100 g; Smoked bacon 150 g; Parmesan (grated) 1 heaping tbsp, plus a little for serving (10 g); Olive oil 1 tbsp; Salt, black pepper to taste

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30 mins

One of the tastiest and simplest breakfast options is pasta with cheese and bacon. It’s easy to make and keeps you full for a long time. We often cook long bucatini with fried bacon and Gorgonzola; it’s simple and delicious. Bucatini, which comes from Lazio, looks like “thick” spaghetti with a hole running through the middle, and it goes well with most sauces and pieces of fried ingredients. In some regions of Italy, by the way, it’s called perciatelli. Slightly sharp, tangy Gorgonzola can dress up any dish, and that’s hard to argue with. For the meat, use smoked bacon or prosciutto, your choice.

Ingredients

2 servings

Bucatini 200 g
Water for boiling the pasta 2 l
Salt for boiling the pasta 10 g (5 g per 1 l of water, the sauce is salty)
Gorgonzola 100 g
Smoked bacon 150 g
Parmesan (grated) 1 heaping tbsp, plus a little for serving (10 g)
Olive oil 1 tbsp
Salt, black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Pasta

Bucatini with fried smoked bacon and tangy Gorgonzola makes an especially good breakfast. If you don’t have bucatini, you can use spaghetti, or better yet spaghettoni, which are thicker. Smoked bacon can be replaced with something similar, such as smoked and cooked pork belly, or even pancetta. It’s best to buy aged Gorgonzola, which has a pronounced, slightly sharp and tangy flavor. There are young, slightly “sweet” varieties of this cheese, but they won’t give the pasta that wonderful flavor.

Bucatini, which look like thick spaghetti, lightly smoked bacon and tangy Gorgonzola.

Frying the bacon is quick, so start by boiling the pasta.

Boil the bucatini. Bring 2 l of water to a boil over high heat and add salt (10 g, which is 5 g per 1 l of water). The pasta pack gives the time to reach al dente. To my taste, add a minute or even two so the bucatini are softer; don’t worry, they won’t overcook. Thinner spaghetti shouldn’t be overcooked, as they swell more than bucatini.

Bacon and pasta

While the pasta is cooking, fry the bacon. Cut it into very thin strips. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the bacon in it for 2-3 mins.
If you use raw bacon rather than smoked, fry it longer so it renders its fat; in that case you can skip the olive oil.
Fry the pasta with the bacon. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander and add it to the bacon right away. Fry the bucatini together with the bacon over medium heat so the pasta is coated with a film of fat, until the moisture is gone. Then season the pasta generously with freshly ground pepper. If the Gorgonzola isn’t very sharp (the dolce variety is common), use even more pepper. If you like, you can add a little salt, but it’s better to do that later, after adding the Gorgonzola.

Gorgonzola

Add the Gorgonzola. Remove the packaging and crumble the cheese into the pasta with a knife in small pieces, rind included. Reduce the heat under the pan a little so the cheese doesn’t burn. Stir the pasta with the cheese using a spatula until all the cheese has melted and “dissolved”. If you like, add a little more salt. Add a heaping tablespoon of grated Parmesan (10 g) and stir once more.

Serving

Divide the pasta among plates and serve while it’s hot; this dish doesn’t reheat well. There’s no need to garnish it with herbs, as is often done. You can sprinkle a little Parmesan on top, which is enough.
Enjoy the tangy flavor and delicate aroma of this dish. Have it for breakfast and you’ll stay full until lunch, guaranteed!

Calories and macros

905 kcal

Serving ≈ 230 g

Protein34 g15% of kcal
Fat51 g52% of kcal
Carbs73 g33% of kcal

100 g389 kcalProtein 14.7 gFat 21.8 gCarbs 31.3 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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