Penne with Asparagus, Bacon and Parmesan
Ingredients
2 servings
For the sauce
- Green asparagus 100 g
- Dry-cured smoked bacon 50 g
- Sun-dried tomatoes 3-4
- Olive oil 1 tbsp
- Salt, black pepper to taste
For the pasta and serving
- Penne pasta 200 g
- Water for cooking the pasta 2 l
- Salt for cooking the pasta 10 g (5 g per 1 l of water, because the bacon and Parmesan are salty)
- Grated Parmesan 2 tbsp (plus more for serving) (14 g)
Step-by-step recipe
Asparagus with bacon and tomatoes
The beauty of cooking penne with asparagus is that you can leave out the bacon and end up with a full vegetarian dish. Sun-dried tomatoes replace the slices of meat nicely. When buying asparagus, choose bright green, firm stalks with tightly closed tips. Limpness is unacceptable anywhere on the stalk. Also avoid asparagus with a noticeable, often unpleasant smell. It is worth buying dry-cured smoked bacon with a pleasant smoky aroma; it is often sold already sliced into thin strips.
Pasta takes longer to cook than the sauce, so put the pot of water for the penne on the heat before you start frying the asparagus.
Prepare the asparagus: wash the stalks and dry them thoroughly. Cut off the very bottom of the stalks, which is pale and rather tough. Cut the stalks into pieces 2–3 cm long. If the stalks are tough, carefully peel a thin layer off with a sharp knife from the bottom to the middle of the stalk.
Fry the asparagus: heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and fry the asparagus, stirring, until it takes on a pleasant golden shade. Transfer the fried stalks to a plate.
Fry the bacon with the asparagus: if the bacon is in one piece, slice it very thin and fry the slices in the same skillet for 1–2 minutes, then return the fried asparagus. If needed, add a pinch of salt. Only a little, as bacon is usually salty.
Simmer with the sun-dried tomatoes: cut the tomatoes into strips and add them to the skillet. Reduce the heat to the minimum, cover the skillet with a lid and simmer the asparagus, bacon and tomatoes for 3–4 minutes.
Pasta
Cook the penne al dente: bring 2 l of water to a boil in a pot and salt it with 10 g of salt. Cook the pasta; the time is given on the package, and this kind of pasta usually takes 11–13 minutes depending on the brand. In that time the pasta reaches al dente. Drain the penne in a colander.
Toss the pasta with the sauce: transfer the penne to the skillet with the asparagus and bacon, sprinkle generously with finely grated Parmesan, season with ground black pepper and stir.
Serving
Serve the pasta right away, hot, and do not leave it to reheat. It is simple to make, so you can cook it at any time. When serving, you can add more Parmesan and black pepper. By the way, you can keep the fried asparagus tips to garnish the finished dish.
For a vegetarian version, leave out the bacon. Use a little more olive oil and add more sun-dried tomatoes right after frying the asparagus.
Calories and macros
200 kcal
Serving ≈ 100 g
- Protein5 g11% of kcal
- Fat18 g83% of kcal
- Carbs3 g7% of kcal
100 g208 kcalProtein 5.5 gFat 19 gCarbs 3.5 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.