BLT pasta

As my life is getting busier preparing for baby (hence the 6 weeks since my last post), I'm looking for and developing more and more quick & easy weeknight meals. I was always one to make things from scratch and take on incredibly involved recipes on an average Tuesday night, but not only do I not have the time I used to, but I don't so much have the energy either, and I know that's only going to get worse.

Yesterday I forgot to take chicken out of the freezer to defrost, so I was looking for a hearty, yet meat-free meal (we usually have a meat at every meal - we're quite the carnivores). I knew I had bacon, and a few ripe tomatoes on the verge of going bad, so BLT pasta it was! We had pasta in the pantry (as always), and a quick trip to the store for spinach and dinner was half done.

Ingredients
1 box linguine
1 bag (16oz) pre-washed baby spinach
3 tomatoes, seeded and shopped
4-5 strips of bacon
1 cup freshly grated parmesan
s&p to taste

In a large skillet, fry bacon over medium/med-low heat until thoroughly cooked (about 20-30 minutes). In large stock pot bring water to boil and cook pasta to al dente.

Once bacon is cooked to desired doneness, remove from pan and allow to drain and cool on a paper towel. Remove all but 2 tbsp bacon fat from pan. Transfer drained pasta to pan with reserved 2 tbsp bacon grease and add spinach in batches until all is added and wilted/cooked down. Crumble bacon and add to pasta with chopped tomatoes and parmesan. Stir to combine, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.