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Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti is loaded with crispy bacon, pan roasted broccoli, and perfectly al dente spaghetti noodles in a lemon, garlic sauce for a quick and easy restaurant quality dinner.
I feel like we all have those days when I know that I need to go to the grocery store because there is basically no food in the fridge, but I just do not have the will to go. Well, that is how I came up with Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti and let me tell you, this is one of my favorite recipes that I have made so far!
I felt like I was on an episode of Chopped when I was cooking this recipe, to be honest. I thought to myself, what can I make with the random things I have in my fridge. I alway have garlic, butter, olive oil, lemons, and pasta at my house. They are STAPLES that I always buy backups for and rarely ever run out of.
My parents also gifted us 10 pounds of bacon at Christmas (one of the best gifts we got, no joke!) so we’ve had a pack of bacon in the fridge at all times. I also had some leftover broccoli from another recipe that I made, and quite frankly, did not have high hopes. But it turned out amazing!
If you are like me, you probably already have a lot of these ingredients in your kitchen and a bonus is that Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti can be made in under 20 minutes.
SPECIAL CARE FOR EVERY INGREDIENT IN BACON AND BROCCOLI SPAGHETTI
The ingredients in Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti are super simple, but it is the care of each ingredient that makes the ingredients shine and creates a perfect bite of pasta every time.
You could easily throw this dish together by cooking up some bacon in a pan, steaming some broccoli, adding some noodles, and olive oil and calling it a day….but would it taste as good? Heck no!
By treating each ingredient in Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti with care while cooking, you are making sure that you get the best flavor and texture out of every ingredient in the recipe. Add all of the individual specially cared for ingredients together and you will have one flavorful dish!
BAKE THAT BACON
If you are making bacon any other way than baking it in the oven, you are doing it wrong my friend. By baking your bacon, you are rendering the fat so you will get evenly crispy bacon every time.
To bake the bacon, start by preheating your oven to 400°. I like to wait until the oven is completely heated to 400° before putting the bacon in the oven, so that the temperature is consistent during baking.
Line a rimmed cookie sheet with tin foil. The tin foil is perfect for easier cleanup and the rimmed cookie sheet is so you don’t accidentally cause a grease fire in your oven. We are all about cooking safety over here!
Place the bacon onto the cookie sheet, making sure not to overlap each piece but they can be touching. Bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, strain the bacon grease off of the cookie sheet and cook the bacon for another 3 minutes. Cook times will vary depending on the thickness of your bacon (our bacon was reasonably thick).
Line a plate with a paper towel and transfer the bacon to the paper towel to remove some of the extra grease. PERFECT CRISPY BACON EVERY TIME!
PAN ROASTED BROCCOLI
One of my favorite ways to cook broccoli is by pan roasting in a little bit of olive oil. Pan roasting vegetables is a quick and easy way to get a great browning and a very similar flavor to oven roasting in about one fourth of the time. This pan roasted broccoli adds extra depth of flavor to Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti.
To pan roast the broccoli, start by adding one tsp of olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Once the oil begins to glisten, add in your broccoli and stir it around to evenly coat in the olive oil. Cover with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes or until browned to your liking, stirring occasionally.
In the pan roasted broccoli recipe I did not add garlic because we are going to have garlic in the pasta sauce, but if you are pan roasting broccoli as a side, I would recommend cooking the broccoli with some minced garlic and topping it with some shredded pecorino or parmesan cheese. An easy and delicious way to add some excitement to your veggies!
LEMON GARLIC SAUCE FOR BACON AND BROCCOLI SPAGHETTI
I am all about having staple sauces and recipes and utilizing them in more than one dish. Lemon Garlic Sauce is one of those staples because like I said, I will always have lemon, garlic, butter, and olive oil in my kitchen.
To make the Lemon Garlic Sauce for the Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti, add two tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter to the pot that you boiled the spaghetti in and melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the minced garlic and toast until brown. Remove from heat and add in one-fourth teaspoon of salt, one-fourth teaspoon of pepper, two tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley, and the juice from half of a lemon.
Now you are ready to chop up and toss in your baked bacon, pan roasted broccoli, and perfectly al dente spaghetti noodles (that you cooked to package instructions), to make Bacon and Broccoli Spaghetti!
BACON AND BROCCOLI SPAGHETTI
Ingredients
- 4 slices Bacon
- 1 cup Fresh Broccoli Florets
- 1/2 box Spaghetti Noodles
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
Lemon Garlic Sauce
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Parsley chopped
Garnish
- Pecorino Romano or Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
Bacon
- Preheat oven to 400° and line a rimmed baking sheet with tin foil.
- Add bacon to rimmed cookie sheet (making sure not to overlap bacon) and cook for 10 minutes.
- Strain bacon grease and cook for an additional 3 minutes. *Cooking time may vary depending on thickness of bacon*
- Line a plate with a paper towel and transfer bacon to the paper towel. Set aside.
Spaghetti and Broccoli
- Cook spaghetti or pasta according to package directions. Set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, add one tsp of oil to a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is glistening, add broccoli and stir to evenly coat with olive oil. Cover with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes or until broccoli is browned to your liking. Set aside.
Lemon Garlic Sauce
- To the pot that you boiled the spaghetti in, add 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter and melt over medium heat.
- To the melted butter and olive oil, add minced garlic (4 cloves) and toast until browned and fragrant.
- Remove mixture from heat and add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper,
Combine Ingredients
- Chop bacon.
- Add spaghetti, bacon, and broccoli to the lemon garlic sauce. Toss ingredients together.
- Garnish with grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese.
FINDING FLAVOR COMMUNITY
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