Lemon-y Orecchiette with Bacon and Mushrooms

October 20th, 2010 by justJENN

My kids LOVE pasta. They can’t get enough and I’m always trying to think of new ways to make it interesting.

The first time I had orecciette I was living in Italy, the concave shape is nice for holding sauce. I liked the fact that orecciette meant ‘small ear’. They look nothing like ears thank goodness, cause that’d be sorta gross.

ingredients:
1 package orecchiette pasta

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
zest of half a lemon

1 slab of bacon
1 package button mushrooms
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic

Cook the orecchiette according to package directions. Drain, do NOT rinse – reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. VERY important! You will need this later. Never rinse pasta because your sauce won’t stick and you’ll be left with…a mess.

In a small bowl combine the olive oil, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, pepper and lemon zest. Set aside.

I like to chop the bacon – THEN cook it. It crisps up much faster and saves you from having to ‘crumble’ it after the fact. Cook the bacon to crispy then set aside to drain.

In the same pan empty out most of the bacon fat and add the olive oil and the garlic. Saute for a minute then add the mushroom and cook down until softened. Mushroom retain a lot of water so let them drain out a bit before you mix them in.

In a large bowl toss the orecchiette, the lemon sauce, reserved pasta water, the crispy bacon and the mushrooms. Mix well and serve warm.

My kids LOVE this dish. It helps that the Baby loves bacon and the Kid loves mushrooms so it’s a perfect combo for dinner.