Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs (Pasta con pangrattato)
This dish is simplicity at its finest. If you follow my blog at all you know how much I love recipes that consist of only a few ingredients. Being the horrible multitasker that I am I need to have each and every ingredient prepared and right in front of me (and sometimes I put them in order of when I use them) before I start cooking or baking otherwise I will forget something. This is especially true when I bake. I have been known to forget key ingredients like eggs and milk in a cake. I know. It’s pathetic! I blame it on the fact that I typically make vegan cakes that don’t require eggs and milk, but that’s not actually the truth. I just get going and grab what’s in front of me – and if the eggs and milk aren’t in front of me, they ain’t goin’ in the cake. Oops.
This recipe comes from a fellow foodie, and when I saw how simple the recipe is to prepare I leaped at the chance to make it.
I think what really makes this meal stand out is the homemade breadcrumbs. They only take minutes to make and really add depth to the pasta. This classic Italian dish is a good reminder that less is more. Recipes consisting of too many ingredients can get awfully expensive, and quite honestly I end up with far more dishes in the sink than I would prefer. Stick with simplicity. It never fails us. Bearing that in mind, I really wish that I had doubled the recipe so I could share it with my friends and family. This is definitely one to show off. Bookmark it, friends! This one is a keeper.
Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs
Source: Minimally adapted from Las Vegas Food Adventures
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups fresh homemade breadcrumbs
2 large garlic cloves, very finely minced
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound pasta, such as spaghetti, linguine or capellini
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute or two. Remove from heat; add the cheese, parsley, bacon pieces, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
Cook the pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain and add to pan with breadcrumbs. Toss over low heat until pasta is coated. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.
I absolutely love recipes that let the food shine and include just a few ingredients. You start to realize how your food tastes (or should!) when you use simple ingredients. I think it’s misleading to think of them as basic because when you start paring down your recipes you realize that properly cooking your food is much more important. Lovely pasta! Did you use fresh? It looks perfectly al dente.
1Thank you! I actually did not use fresh pasta for this dish although that sounds wonderful! Honestly, this was a quick pantry dish. I was thrilled to have all of the ingredients considering my cabinets were getting sparce!
2The pasta sounds terrific in combination with garlic breadcrumbs, great idea!
3It looks delicious! I want to try it but 1/2 cup of oil? Really? I just wanted to make sure that’s not a typo. I can do this with much less oil. Please don’t think I’m insulting your recipe because it truly sounds delish but you know how I operate
That last 10 pounds won’t come off if I use that much oil.
4If you want to make it with less oil, more power to you! I thought it was the perfect amount to gently coat the pasta. You could always eat it as a side dish so you don’t have to worry about consuming too much fat. This ranked very high on my hubby’s approval scale. Luckily for all of us in the kitchen cooking recipes to suit our specific preferences without botching the dish isn’t that hard to do. I tweak recipes all of the time and understand the need to make things healthier. But, no, 1/2 cup is not a typo. The oil serves as the sauce rather than something tomato-based.
5Thanks Kristi! I just can’t justify 960 calories of oil since I’m still trying to lose weight and it’s SO hard with just ten pounds to go. Scott and I talked about this recipe because it does sound fantastic and we though maybe we could toast up the breadcrumbs in the oven with some pam sprayed on them and then mix them with much less olive oil and garlic. I think I’ll have to try it out but I’ll admit it will be much drier than yours was. I like the idea of using at as a side dish and I will keep you posted on how it turns out.
Also, I clicked on a couple ads when I was visiting!
6Ooh, Kristi, that looks yum. Why didn’t you bring me some when you were over?! What the heck?!
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