It was a dinner dilemma. A huge bag of incredibly aromatic fresh basil. A heap of pasta. And a lactose intolerant guest who couldn’t eat the Parmesan cheese that gives pesto its deeply savory flavor.
I started considering other ingredients that share Parmesan’s seriously savory (also called umami in the food world) flavor profile. And of those ingredients, which could handle being ground up into pesto. Bacon.
It was a stunning success.
Bowtie pasta with bacon pesto
6slices thick-cut bacon (preferably smoked)
12ounces farfalle pasta
21/2cups (about 4 ounces) fresh basil
1/4cup pine nuts
3cloves garlic
1/4cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1tomato, seeded and diced
In a large skillet over medium-high, cook the bacon until crisp, about 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to paper towels and drain well. Let the bacon cool slightly.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta, return it to the pot and set aside.
In a food processor, combine the bacon, basil, pine nuts and garlic. Pulse until well chopped. Then, with the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the ingredients form a thick paste. Stop the processor and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula as needed. Season with salt and pepper, then pulse again to blend.
Add the pesto to the pasta and toss well. Add just a bit of the pasta-cooking water and toss again. Serve topped with diced tomato.
Makes 4 servings. Per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 576 calories; 235 calories from fat; 26 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 13 mg cholesterol; 68 g carbohydrate; 18 g protein; 4 g fiber; 440 mg sodium.
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