Asparagus and Bacon Pasta

Again, super easy pasta recipe that is REALLY good. I can make the sauce in the time it takes to boil the water for and cook the pasta. You can use whole wheat pasta and give this dish more fiber.

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon, cooked (I usually cut mine in small chunks with a pizza cutter, then cook them in the pan. Drain and leave a little grease in the pan)
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 14 or 15 oz cans of Italian flavored tomatoes, un-drained and pureed in blender
1 cup of evaporated milk
1 bag of frozen cut up asparagus
1 pound of your favorite pasta, cooked
Mozz or Parm cheese to top
Fresh chopped tomatoes (optional)

Cook bacon, drain. Leave a little grease in pan. Add EVOO and heat. Add garlic, stir for about a minute. Add pureed tomatoes tomatoes. Mix in well. Add evaporated milk. Let mixture heat through. Cook asparagus according to package directions. Add to sauce. Add pasta to sauce and toss to coat. Top with fresh tomatoes and cheese.

Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon

My sister, Kelly, made these on the grill when we went to the shore last summer. They make a great appetizer, but I can eat them as a complete meal. I made them and had some left over and put them in an omelet the next day for breakfast. Very good. A like to drizzle mine with some brown mustard and top them with tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus
1 lb. of bacon
toothpicks
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt and pepper
Cookie sheet with sides

Preheat oven to 450. Wash asparagus and snap off bottoms that are hard and "woody". Decide how many asparagus you can use with the amount of bacon you have. (I wrapped 3 to 4 pieces of asparagus in 1 slice of bacon) Secure with a toothpick. Brush pan with olive oil and place the asparagus wrapped in bacon on the pan and brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once during that time. It is done when the bacon looks done.

Asparagus Pesto Pasta with Chicken

This is an easy meal, especially if you already have the chicken cooked. I used 2 cups of the Asparagus soup I made yesterday. Seriously, no one knew that this was different than usual. When Aldi has their Italian specials, I buy about 20 of the pesto sauce packets( they cost way less there than at Walmart). Then I am stocked for a long time.


Ingredients:
This served 7 of us (granted, 2 of us don't eat a whole lot)
2 cups cooked chopped or shredded chicken
2 cups of Asparagus soup (recipe in previous posting)
2 packets of pesto sauce mix
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 cup Water (If you want the sauce to be thinner, add more water and EVOO)
Pepper to taste
16 oz of your favorite pasta
Italian blend or Parmesan cheese

Mix EVOO and water with 2 cups of Asparagus soup. Add contents of pesto packets and heat. Add cooked chicken. Cook pasta. Mix together and top with cheese to serve.

Asparagus Soup

Asparagus has become one of my favorite veggies. When we were at the beach this summer my one sister, Kelly, made asparagus wrapped in bacon, and grilled it. It was awesome and I have loved this odd shaped veggie ever since. I was craving asparagus this week (weird pregnancy craving) and it was on sale for $1.99/lb, so we are having it this week. I made the soup for myself, doubting the kids would eat it. I will use 2 cups of it to make pesto pasta for dinner. They will never know (unless they read this).


Ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 pounds asparagus
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1/2 cup instant potatoes
1/2 cup fat free evaporated milk

Saute onion in olive oil until clear (you could just cut it up and throw it in the crock pot too, but I like sauted onion as oppossed to boiled). Cut hard bottoms off asparagus and discard. Cut the rest of the asparagus into chunks. Dump these and onion into crock pot. Add chicken broth and salt. Cook on high until onion and asparagus are soft (It took mine about 2 1/2 hours). Stir in instant potatoes (I added these because while the asparagus was cooking I took many tastes and felt like the soup needed to be thicker.) Let soup cool for a little while. Add milk. Puree in batches and pour into another pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. I used this soup to make pesto sauce for our pasta for dinner tonight too. I will post that recipe tomorrow.