Simple Bacon Asparagus Pasta

It’s a busy weeknight and you are scrambling for a meal to whip up. You are tempted to dial the chinese take out restaurant. Then, you remember this amazing simple bacon asparagus pasta dish for busy nights…

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It’s FAST. It’s simple. It’s delicious. 

I love this meal for groups of people because it can feed a crowd! It is also a wonderful leftover.

 It pairs beautifully with a salad of choice and a homemade loaf of crunchy sourdough bread. If you don’t have any of that on hand for sides the meal is great by itself too.

 TIPS FOR MAKING THIS RECIPE

1. Broil The Bacon In The Oven

If you are short on time and do not want to cook your bacon in the pan just set your oven broiler on high. I like to line a cookie sheet with foil and put uncooked bacon on the foil. Bake roughly for 10 minutes or until fully cooked.

I like to have the bacon broiling while I am sautéing the asparagus and boiling the pasta. 

*Make sure the cookie sheet has edges and is not flat. You do not want bacon grease leaking over the edges of the cookie sheet and into your oven!

 

2. The Sauce Makes The Dish

The secret to this dish is the sauce it is made with. It is a simple garlic butter cream sauce that cannot be replicated with anything packaged at the grocery store.

Simple ingredients. Huge flavor. No Flour.

Don’t add flour. To me, flour just makes a sauce bland unless you season it just right. I love the consistency of this sauce when paired with the asparagus and the pasta.

Keep the burner on medium low heat and simmer the butter, garlic, and cream together slowly. No need to burn the garlic.

3. Add The Parmesan Cheese In At The Very End (Before You Add In The Pasta)

Combine the butter, garlic, and cream together before adding in the cheese. I will saute my asparagus in the butter first and then add in the garlic and cream second. 

Once the three have married in flavor you can add in the cheese. It always adds just the perfect amount of cream to the sauce at the very end when it is setting.

TOOLS YOU MAY NEED

• Deep dish cast iron pan or other deep dish pan to hold pasta and sauce for serving. Check out my favorite here.
• Measuring cups
• Whisk
• Knife 
• Chopping board
• Pot for boiling pasta

SIMPLE BACON ASPARAGUS PASTA FAQ’S

HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES THIS RECIPE FEED?

You can really cater this simple bacon asparagus pasta recipe to how many you need to feed. 

The ingredients set up now in this post typically feeds about 3-4 adults.  

If you want to double it it will feed about 7-8. You will want to make sure not to skimp on the bacon and asparagus when doubling!

This recipe is also great leftover!

WHAT IS BETTER THAN BOUILLON?

It is just like the small cubes you buy in replacement of chicken broth but it comes in a condensed paste. This will add a little salty flavor naturally if you SKIP the salt.

If you add in both salt and Better Than Bouillon you will be over salting it! The bacon also has a salty flavor so do not overdo this step!

WHAT KIND OF PASTA CAN YOU USE?

For this specific dish I really love rigatoni or orecchiette pasta. The simple chewy bite both of these pastas offer is amazing.

If you do not have either on hand, Penne pasta also works well too. I have used linguine for this recipe and it was okay but the bite was different.

WHY DON’T YOU ADD FLOUR TO YOUR CREAM SAUCE?

I feel that flour takes away flavor for this specific recipe. No need to take any flavor from this dish!

HOW LARGE SHOULD THE ASPARAGUS PIECES BE?

I like each spear cut into about 5-7 pieces. So not too chopped up, but just enough to get a good amount of asparagus for each bite.

Bacon Asparagus Pasta Ingredients

Ingredients

Feeds 3-4 Adults

• Pasta 1 Box: I have used rigatoni, linguine, penne, and orecchiette. All work great.
• Bacon ½ packages
• Asparagus 1 bundle
• Heavy Whipping Cream 1-2 cups
• Parmesan ½ cup
• Butter ½ cup or 1 stick
• Garlic 2 cloves
• Better Than Bouillon Paste (Optional) 1 tsp
• Salt + Pepper to taste (omit salt if using Better than bouillon)

HOW TO MAKE BACON ASPARAGUS PASTA DISH

1. Grab a pot and fill it up with water (add a pinch of salt to the water).
2. Place the bacon on a foil lined cookie sheet and put the bacon in the oven on HI Broil. (Watch this so the bacon doesn’t burn).
3. In your larger deep skillet or pan add in the stick of butter to melt on medium low heat. Chop your asparagus spears into bite size pieces and add to the pan of butter. Then add in your chopped cloves of garlic. 
4. Pour your pasta into the boiling water and cook until al dente. You need to follow the cooking instructions on the box.
5. Check your bacon and take it out if it is cooked to your liking. Place on a paper towel and degrease the pieces. Chop them up and put them into the cream mixture in the pan.
6. Once the butter, garlic, and asparagus are cooked and married together in flavor pour in your cream and add a teaspoon of the Better Than Bouillon paste if you are using it. If you are not using it, simply add in the cream to simmer and cook. 
7. Once the cream is cooked in, add in your parmesan cheese and combine. Turn off the heat to the oven.
8. Once the pasta is boiled strain it and add it to the creamy mixture.
9. Serve hot