TomHofstätter.com

If you are in a hurry and stuck for fresh ideas, this quick and delicious pasta dish can save the day. Using just a handful of ingredients you can build a one plate meal with complex flavour and texture.

You can balance the ingredients to your taste, but I encourage you pick your ingredients in pairs and try to combine opposite extremes. In this recipe for example, I offset the crispness & saltiness of the bacon with the grassy sweetness of spinach. Similarily I combine the large warm slivers of soft mozerella with a sharp tasting grated romano. Go nuts.

Add your favourite pasta and you can prep this meal on the fly and you should be able to go from zero to plate in 15 minutes or less.

Use it as a template and let your imagination run wild. Be patient and experiment.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 hockey puck size slice of pancetta or 8 – 10 slices of bacon, diced
• 1 – 2 large white onions, diced, about 2 cups
• 1&1/2 cups slivers of mozerella
• 2 cloves of garlic,  finely chopped
• 2 cups loosly packed spinach
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Grated romano to taste

Preparation and Cooking (15 minutes)
You can do this start to finish on the fly, no prep time needed.
Start by preparing a pot of your favourite pasta, then:

1. Heat a deep skillet medium-hot.
2. Dice the bacon or pancetta and add to the hot pan let it get crispy .
3. Dice the onion and add to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.
4. Cook until onion is soft, add garlic and spinach, toss gently, and remove from heat
5. Plate pasta, top with bacon/onion/spinach, top with cheeses and ground pepper.

Totally simple. Totally yummy. Vary the ingredients and try it often, soon you’ll make it your own. Enjoy.