Candied Bacon

I. Love. Bacon. You know that commercial for Frank’s Red Hot Sauce?  Well that’s how I feel about bacon.  I could put it on everything.  Bacon makes everything better. Truly.

Now that I’ve expressed my deep love for bacon, I’ve made candied bacon quite a few times before, also known as pig candy.  So I figured I’d share this one with all of my fellow bacon lovers out there.  Be warned though, this stuff is seriously addicting.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 TBSP syrup
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it hot) Careful though, the heat from cooking makes the cayenne pepper even stronger! I recommend only a small amount.
• 1 package of thick cut bacon
• Wire rack for baking
• Baking sheet covered in foil
• Parchment paper

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
• Mix together sugar, syrup and cayenne pepper in a shallow bowl or dish.  Place your wire baking rack on top of the baking sheet that has been covered in foil.  Dredge the bacon slices in the brown sugar mixture and press the sugar onto the bacon strips.
• Place on wire rack and repeat for each slice.
• Don’t let the slices touch as they may end up sticking together when baking.
• Bake for about 20-30 minutes until dark but not burned.
• Let cool slightly and remove from wire rack onto parchment paper
• Serve full slices or cut into small bite size pieces.

These are a great snack to serve for guests, they’ll definitely go over well for Sunday Football!

Tomato Alfredo Pasta

This recipe is super easy and so delicious! It’s a great way to change-up a regular tomato or Alfredo sauce! If you’d rather keep it a little more on the lighter side, you can always lessen the amount of the Alfredo sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb Farfalle pasta (or any kind you prefer)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 – 28oz. can diced tomatoes
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves chopped
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP butter
• 3/4 cup of half and half
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Boil pasta according to directions.  I like mine al dente so it’s not too over cooked.  Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.
• In a large sauce pan heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute.
• Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  If you like a thinner sauce you can substitute the diced tomatoes for a can of crushed tomatoes.  Or blend tomatoes in a blender or with an Emerson blender to get the consistency you like.
• In a separate pan, melt butter for the Alfredo sauce over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and stir until smooth and begins to brown.
• Whisk in half and half into the flour mixture and season with salt and pepper.
• Bring to a simmer and whisk continuously until thickened.
• Whisk in parmesan cheese.  The sauce will get pretty thick at this point, so this is where you will add in the past water you reserved.  You may not need it all, so add it in a little at a time. You just want to thin out the sauce a little bit.
• Add the basil to the tomato sauce and stir together.
• Add the Alfredo sauce to the tomato sauce and mix together and then add your pasta to the sauce and mix well together.
• Serve and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.