Trio of Pasta

I really love pasta, but who doesn't? Oh yeah, my German grandfather, who did not even garner enjoyment from the spaetzle with meat and gravy my grandmother would set on the table. Oh well, he was a tremendous lover of food, you know, and I am truly my Opa's granddaughter.

The recipe for this "Swiss Chard, Herb, and Cherry Tomato Pasta" can be found in my sister's and my garden blog. It was a really delicious combo of al dente noodles, garden-fresh swiss chard and grape tomatoes, and salty grated Parmesan cheese. When the tomatoes are sauteed in the frying pan with olive oil, they start to crack so the juices ooze out and form the sauce, and they have a really concentrated tomato flavour, almost like what you would get out of canned tomatoes, but much sweeter.



My friend, Katie, I feel is almost a pasta aficionado, as whenever we have a dinner party get-together, something starchy in a flavourful sauce is almost always on the menu. This recipe for Penne with Tomato Bacon Sauce was found on Chef Michael Smith's website.

This dish is so simple for something that tastes so good! It involves the cooking of eight slices of bacon before adding the seasonings and canned tomatoes, which I feel is crucial to the recipe, because bacon fat has the capability of cutting through the blandness of canned tomatoes without the need for a ton of seasonings. As a result, the sauce was rich and really tasty to eat! This is a keeper recipe and one I might add into a regular routine.



This pasta, as my sister and I would like to call "Rainbow Garden Pasta With Bacon", because it has colourful fischietti pasta noodles and vegetables from our garden, includes a mixture of swiss chard, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, onion, green pepper, garlic, and bacon. We also added red pepper flakes, which we love, for some heat. All in all, the mixture is not terribly different from our rigatoni, but we love this combo because it tastes so fresh and allows all the flavours to shine through.

Recipe:

4 cups fichietti or other colourful pasta
6 bacon slices, cut in pieces
1 small onion, diced
7 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, (or less if you like it less spicy)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small zucchini, sliced and cut in half moons
handful cherry tomatoes
approximately 10 small swiss chard leaves
handful of Italian herbs like Oregano, Rosemary, Parsley and Basil
salt and pepper

Fry bacon in pan until lightly browned. Add aromatics and red pepper flakes (I like to season at this point too) and fry until onions start to soften. Add green pepper and zucchini because they'll take the longest to cook. When they're cooked halfway, add the tomatoes and swiss chard, and cook until the tomatoes are bruised and juicy, and the swiss chard is tender.

While sauce sits over low warm heat, bring salted water to the boil, and cook pasta. When pasta is cooked, strain and add to the sauce (do not rinse as you will lose the starch which allows the sauce to stick). Add your combination of Italian herbs, and more salt and pepper if needed.