The Cottage Smallholder

Hope this is the most appropriate place to put my pasta with tomato and bacon sauce recipe.  If not, I'm sure TA will redirect it.

The original recipe was from a pressure cooker book but could be adapted for the slow cooker by adjusting the amount of liquid required. I have tweaked it to suit our taste.

Sauce ingredients:

A pack of bacon misshapes (I prefer smoked and I hunt through to find a pack with the leanest contents) chopped into small pieces (I cut off all visible fat).

Oil for frying

1 onion, chopped

clove of garlic, crushed

qtr pt of water

1lb of tomatoes (you can use a can but adjust water to suit)*

Tomato paste

Veg stock cube

Herbs (I tend to use about a tsp of herbes de Provence)

white pepper to taste (no salt required as bacon and stock cube provide sufficient)

1tbs cornflour.

Chopped parsley and or parmesan shavings to serve

* I use home-grown frozen tomatoes which I thaw in the microwave for about 4 minutes which enables me to easily remove the skins. 

Add your preferred pasta (better to use twists, etc to hold the sauce rather than spaghetti) to boiling water so it will cook whilst you make the sauce.

Heat oil in the base of the pressure cooker and fry onions, garlic and bacon until soft but not browned.  Add skinned, roughly chopped tomatoes with water, crushed stock cube and white pepper to taste.  I use tomato paste from a tube and just squeeze in a goodly amount to enrichen the flavour at this point.  Add your herbs of choice.  Put lid on cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 5 minutes.  Reduce pressure quickly and carefully remove lid from the pan.  Thicken the sauce with the cornflour slaked in a small amount of water. Reboil sauce to cook the cornflour mix.

Drain pasta and toss into sauce and serve with a sprinkling of parsley/ parmesan shavings.

You can add chopped bell pepper and/or celery with the onions, garlic etc.  I've also added mushrooms if I have any lurking in the fridge.

This is a very econonical meal.  My pack of bacon cost 99p and there was very little wastage.  This recipe will serve 4, especially if padded out with extra tomatoes and veg in the sauce.  If there is any leftover it could be used as the basis for a pasta bake with the addition of some cheese sauce on top and finishing off in the oven.

I too love bacon fat but for health reasons my husband and I have to avoid saturated fats.  I use Flora Cuisine for frying off the onions etc but for those fortunate enough not to have inherited familial hypercholesterolaemia, olive oil, sunflower etc oil is fine.  We are advised to have no more than 30g fat a day.  Quite difficult to do so we do allow ourselves treats!