Frugal Friday Pasta with Bacon and Sauteed Spinach

OK, quick confession: there's actually not a lot of bacon in this dish, but I thought it might catch your attention! But as I've said before, it doesn't necessarily take a lot of bacon to add some nice flavor to a dish. Just enough to punch up the flavor of a pasta featuring what was still remaining in the fridge at the week's end--in this case, some spinach and a bell pepper were the main ingredients I sought to use. Here's the simple recipe, vary it according to what's in your fridge!

1 strip or so bacon crisped (I keep some bacon in the freezer for occasions like this)
1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups or so spinach
handful of Parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
1/2 tsp dried basil
12 ozs elbow macaroni or other short pasta shape
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large skillet on medium high with a bit of oil spray on to coat. Add the bacon, cook until nice and crispy, turning once. Place a paper towel on top of a plate, and remove the bacon to the plate when it's done; the paper towel will absorb the bacon grease. Drain most of the excess grease, but leave a bit in the pan for flavor.

Start heating a pan with water to cook the pasta as you get going on the rest of the sauce. Return the skillet to medium heat with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, then add the onion. Cook until nice and soft and beginning to brown. Add the bell pepper and cook until the pepper and onion are starting to caramelize (i.e. get brown and sweet). Add the dried basil, or fresh if you have it. At this time, start cooking the pasta according to package instructions.

Stir in the garlic with another tbsp of olive oil when the pepper and onion have browned, cook for another minute or so. Gradually stir in the spinach, letting some begin to wilt to create room for more. Once all the spinach has been added and started to soften, turn the heat to very low and cover to wait for the pasta to finish cooking.

Drain the pasta when done to your liking. Toss with the final tbsp olive, the spinach/onion mixture and a handful of cheese. Plate the pasta and serve with extra cheese at the table.

Frugal Friday: Pasta with Turkey, Chickpeas and Tomatoes

A dwindling food supply in your home at week's end doesn't mean you have to sacrifice nutrition or flavor. A modest amount of ground turkey is supplemented here by chickpeas to supply a solid amount of protein in a cost-effective manner. One goal I had with the dish was to use some fresh basil I'd managed to preserve from earlier in the week, adding a this fresh herb gives a nice flavor boost. Though you might see a similar theme in other Frugal Friday dishes here built around pasta, I'm always pleased by how a few tweaks of the ingredients on a basic concept can result in a new, interesting dish. This one is very tasty, a definite keeper!

1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb turkey ground
1/4 tsp fennel seed
1/4 cup red wine
28 oz can tomatoes
2 handfuls basil, chopped
15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
appx 3 ozs baby spinach
1/3 cup grated cheese--I used a combo of Gouda and Romano
1 lb short pasta shape, I used elbows

Start boiling some water for the pasta. Saute the onion with 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a medium pan for about 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add the red pepper, saute on medium heat for a few more minutes, then add the garlic for another minute or two. Push the onion mixture to the side of the pan.

Add the ground turkey to the center of the pan, cook for a few minutes there until it begins to turn white. Stir the turkey together with the onion mixture, cook for a few more minutes until the turkey has turned mostly all white on the outside. Stir in the red wine, cook it for about 5 minutes until it is mostly absorbed. Add the canned tomatoes, including the juice. If using whole tomatoes, use a heavy spoon to gradually break them up against the side of the pan. Add the basil and fennel seed to the tomato mixture.

Start cooking the pasta in the boiling water after adding the tomatoes to the pan. This is a pretty quick cooking tomato sauce. Add the chickpeas and spinach to the tomato sauce a few minutes before the pasta is ready. You can break up a few chickpeas to thicken the sauce a bit if you'd like.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and combine it with the remaining tbsp of olive oil and the sauce. Stir in the grated cheese, and serve with extra cheese at the table. Though you could simply use Romano or Parmesan, I like to add flavor by using remnants of other cheese I have on hand like the Gouda. Serve and enjoy this fast, tasty dish!