Aglio Olio Pasta with bacon

As early as one year old, I taught Yuan and Gabee to eat different kind of pasta dishes. Yuan’s first pasta encounter was carbonara when he celebrated his first birthday. And Gabee’s first was Pasta Alfredo with ham and bacon when he was one and a half years old (if I remember it correctly). I have tried many pasta dishes from Connie Veneracion’s recipe such as Salami and Cheese Fettuccine, Pasta with clams in red wine sauce, Pasta a la panikera, Pasta with prawns in creamy garlic sauce, and Pasta with tuyo (dried herring).

I also tried the pasta recipe of Atty. Gabby Conception when she guested in one of the episode of the Sweet Life, a TV program being hosted by Lucy Torres-Gomez in QTV 11. This pasta recipe is tomato-based (it includes chorizo, green and black olives, garlic and stewed tomato) which did not suit to my children’s taste buds. They are more into creamy and cheesy than tomatoey sauce.

This afternoon prior to this writing, I tried another easy-to-follow pasta dish recipe that comes from chef-mom Rosebud Benitez who is currently hosting the show “Quickfire” (a 10-minute kitchen wonders) which she demonstrated, the Aglio Olio Pasta. According to her, Aglio Olio is Italian pasta which simply means pasta in garlic and olive oil sauce. But she included bacon in her recipe for her kids’ preference. I also did some tweak on her recipe to fit my family’s palate. Instead of grated parmesan cheese, I used the less expensive cheddar cheese and lots of garlic and bacon for more flavorful pasta sauce. I also used San Remo Vegeroni Spirals in place of the ordinary spaghetti to have a nice blend of colors as it has three colors (orange, green and yellow) for added attraction to my kids. And Oh, I ditch the MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) too. Here’s the recipe:


Ingredients:200 grams of Vegeroni Spirals (or any other shapes you want)
200 grams of bacon
Half of whole garlic, finely minced
About 1 Tbsp. of Olive oil
Lots of grated cheese for garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Procedures:
1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well afterwards.
2. Heat the pan to fry the bacon until crispy then cut it into smaller bites.
3. After frying the bacon, add olive oil into the pan (do not pour the oil from the bacon) then add the garlic, stirring gently.
4. When the garlic releases aroma, add the bacon and the pasta. Toss well until the pasta is coated well with the oil. Add salt and pepper according to your taste.
5. Turn off the heat and transfer to the plate.
6. Garnish with lots of grated cheese.






That was all it took for us to have a delicious merienda treat this afternoon which my kids and my husband really enjoyed. Buko (young coconut) juice was also served together with the pasta.