Spaghetti with Bacon and Garlic Sauce.

My first attempt at menu planning was apparently a failure. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday all went according to plan. Thursday and Saturday, not so much. While menu planning on Monday, I forgot that Thursday night was going to be a busy one. My youngest son had a special night at school and I had a meeting later that night. We ended up taking our other two kids to McDonalds for dinner, they wanted to play on the playground. 

Tonight, Saturday, also didn't go according to plan. Totally my fault. I had a bag of chicken fillets in the fridge that I bought on Tuesday and then forgot about, they ended up behind something else. So chicken was out for tonight. 

I came up with the following, which I'm guessing is sort of like a carbonara sauce, only not. I don't like carbonara, not sure why. I love bacon (who doesn't?!), eggs and cheese, but all together on pasta? No. 

I'm sure it's not all that original. 

Spaghetti with Bacon and Garlic sauce

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 heaped teaspoon minced garlic

250g bacon with most of the fat removed, chopped into 1/2" squares

3 spring onions (green onions)

200mls cream (I had thickened cream in the fridge)

pinch of chili flakes

Directions:

Heat oil in fry pan and saute garlic. Add bacon, and fry off, but not until crispy. Add chopped spring onions, white and green parts and continue to fry for a minute or two. Reduce heat and add half of the cream and mix well. Add cream little by little until you get the desired consistency, you may not need all the cream. Simmer on low for about five minutes, stirring regularly. You may want to add more cream. Add a pinch of chili flakes.

Serve over freshly cooked spaghetti, or the pasta of your choice.

Notes: Like I said, I threw this meal together without planning it. We had bacon, eggs, cheese, fresh vegies, cream and some other ingredients that didn't appeal to me tonight. I had planned on adding the cheese, a soft cheddar, but after tasting the sauce after the addition of the chili flakes, I decided it was perfect as it was. When we sat down to eat it, it felt a little heavy, though. Next time I'm going to try this recipe with evaporated milk instead and see how that goes. At the very least, it felt like it needed some acid to cut down on the creaminess. Maybe lemon juice or white wine. All in all a lovely dish.

The kids all loved it and our nearly four year old daughter, who said "I don't want it, I'll just have a sandwich" then asked for a taste and ended up finishing her brother's bowl for him when he'd had enough. It's definitely a dish I'll be making again. It was delicious, quickly prepared and quick to cook. What could be better?