Penne With Bacon Spinach And Two Cheeses Recipes

BACON AND PARMESAN PENNE PASTA

Steps:

• Place the chopped bacon and onion in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir until the bacon is crisp and the onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
• While the bacon and onion are cooking, fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the penne, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl, and stir in the olive oil to coat the pasta.
• Drain the bacon grease from the skillet, leaving a couple of tablespoons or to taste. Stir the cooked bacon mixture into the pasta, and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the pasta. Stir to mix in the cheese, and serve.

PENNE PASTA WITH SPINACH AND BACON

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne pasta, and cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place bacon in the skillet, and cook until browned and crisp. Add garlic, and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook until heated through.
• Place the spinach into a colander, and drain the hot pasta over it so it is wilted. Transfer to a large serving bowl, and toss with the remaining olive oil, and the bacon and tomato mixture.

BAKED PENNE WITH MUSHROOMS, BACON AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
• Cook pasta as directed on package. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Drain pasta; return to stockpot. Add cream; toss. Set aside.
• Spray 12-inch sauté pan or skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add bacon; cook until crisp. With slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan to plate; set aside.
• Add onions, salt and pepper to bacon drippings in pan; cook and stir 4 to 7 minutes or until translucent. Add mushrooms; cook 6 to 10 minutes longer or until browned and liquid evaporates. Add spinach and reserved pasta cooking water; cook and stir 1 minute.
• Pour mushroom mixture over pasta; toss to coat. Pour into baking dish. Top evenly with both cheeses. Cover dish tightly with foil.
• Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil; top with reserved bacon. Bake uncovered 5 minutes longer.

PENNE WITH RADICCHIO, SPINACH, AND BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut off top 1/2 inch of garlic head, exposing cloves. Place garlic head, cut side up, on sheet of foil and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Wrap garlic in foil. Roast until garlic is soft, about 40 minutes. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Squeeze garlic into small bowl.
• Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook bacon strips and chopped onion in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Add chicken broth, remaining 5 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, and roasted garlic. Bring mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally. Add radicchio, spinach, and basil and stir to combine. Simmer just until radicchio and spinach wilt, about 1 minute.
• Drain pasta and return to same pot. Add radicchio-spinach mixture to pasta. Add 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper; toss to coat. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper and serve, passing additional Parmesan cheese alongside.

CHEDDAR BACON PENNE

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, saute onion until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Set aside. , In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese until melted. , Drain pasta. Add pasta, bacon and onion mixture to the sauce; stir to coat. Transfer to a 3-cup baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. , Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

CHEESY BACON PENNE

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute garlic in butter for 1 minute. Stir in flour and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in 2 cups of cheese until melted. Remove from the heat. , Drain pasta; add pasta and 1/3 cup bacon to cheese sauce. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon. , Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

PENNE PASTA WITH SPINACH AND BACON

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
• Add the penne pasta, and cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes
• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
• Place bacon in the skillet, and cook until browned and crisp.
• Add garlic, and cook for about 1 minute.
• Stir in the tomatoes, and cook until heated through.
• Place the spinach into a colander, and drain the hot pasta over it so it is wilted.
• Transfer to a large serving bowl, and toss with the remaining olive oil, and the bacon and tomato mixture.

PENNE WITH BACON, SPINACH & MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Cook pasta as package directs.
• Meanwhile, cook bacon in large, deep nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned.
• Remove bacon to paper towels to drain.
• Remove all but 2 T fat from skillet.
• Add onion and mushrooms to skillet; saute 5 minutes until onion is golden.
• Add garlic and red pepper flakes; cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
• Add spinach; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes until wilted.
• Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
• Add pasta to skillet with some of the reserved pasta water; toss.
• Add more water as necessary.
• Crumble bacon on top of pasta and serve with Parmesan.

CHICKEN AND BACON PASTA WITH SPINACH AND TOMATOES IN GARLIC CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, on medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook on one side on medium-high heat for 4 minutes. While it cooks, sprinkle the uncooked sides of the chicken with paprika, Italian seasoning, and salt. Flip the chicken over, and cook on the other side for 3 more minutes on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low-medium, flip chicken over again and cook, covered, for several minutes until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from the pan and keep chicken warm.
• To the same pan (but without chicken), add heavy cream and bring to boil. Only after the heavy cream starts boiling, add shredded Parmesan cheese. Immediately reduce to simmer (low-medium heat) and stir, while simmering, until the cheese melts and the sauce is creamy, for about 1 or 3 minutes.
• To the same pan with the creamy sauce, add chopped tomatoes, fresh spinach, garlic, crushed red pepper. Stir in the sauce on medium heat just until the spinach starts to wilt and sinks into the sauce. Add 1/3 of the cooked chicken (sliced into small strips) and half the bacon (already cooked and drained of fat). Mix everything. Remove from heat.
• In the meantime bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta, and cook according to instructions (usually 10 to 15 minutes). Drain the pasta.
• Add cooked pasta to the skillet with the sauce and reheat on low heat. When ready to serve, top the pasta with the remaining half of bacon (cooked, drained of fat, chopped, gently reheated) and the remaining 2/3 of the cooked chicken (sliced into small strips, gently reheated). This is done for presentation purposes.
• When serving, top the pasta with 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.

CHEESY SPINACH BAKED PENNE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mist a 2 to 2 1/2-quart rectangular or oval baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook according to package directions for al dente.
• While the pasta cooks, heat the oil in a medium pot set over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds and garlic and cook until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil sprig, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, lowering the heat if the sauce bubbles too vigorously, until the sauce has thickened slightly, the flavors have blended together and the raw tomato taste has cooked out, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the basil and season with additional salt and pepper. Pour over the cooked pasta and toss well to coat. Add the cubed mozzarella and transfer half the pasta to the prepared baking dish.
• Put the cottage cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and pulse two to three times. Combine half the cottage cheese mixture with the spinach and mix to break up the spinach. Drop in spoonfuls over the pasta in the baking dish. Top the spinach layer with the rest of the pasta and then the remaining cottage cheese mixture.
• Bake until bubbly and golden brown on top, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes, and then scatter the torn basil over the top.

PENNE WITH BACON, SPINACH AND TWO CHEESES

Steps:

• Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels and drain. Pour off all but 3 tbsp. drippings from skillet. Add bell pepper and onion to skillet and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Immediately return pasta to same pot. Add Fontina, Gorgonzola and butter and toss until cheeses and butter melt and coat pasta. Add spinach and brandy and toss over medium heat until spinach wilts, about 3 min. Gently mix in red bell pepper mixture and cooked bacon pieces. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta to large bowl. Sprinkle with nuts and chives and serve.