Paprika spices up never-ending dish

LITTLE ROCK — Frequent readers are probably aware of my weakness for bacon and tomatoes.

I will eat just about anything if it has bacon on it- OK, I’ll eat the bacon off of almost anything.

So when I came across this recipe for pasta with bacon in a recent issue of Everyday Food, I had to give it a try.

The recipe said it made four servings, which I liked. That meant dinner today and enough for lunch tomorrow.

But it seems what I call a serving and what they call a serving are quite different.

This dish quickly became the never-ending bowl of pasta.

The first night my husband and I ate our fill of the smoky, bacon flecked pasta and barely made a dent. The next day, we again ate our fill. And the day after.

To keep from feeling like we were being punished, the second day I sliced and browned an andouille sausage and added it to the bowl of pasta. The third day, I scooped out what was left in the bowl and placed it in a casserole dish and topped with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.

Regrettably even after munching on it for three days we still had approximately half of the original dish. On day four I tossed it.

It’s good. It’s really good. But I couldn’t bear the thought of eating it again for the fourth dinner in a row and I feared that by day five it wouldn’t be fit to eat.

And while you can’t go wrong with bacon, what really makes this dish shine is the smoked paprika. It adds a deep, sweet peppery, smoky flavor to the sauce.

Here is my adaptation of the recipe.

Pasta With Bacon and Smoky Tomato Sauce

6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-

inch pieces 1/2 onion, diced 1 (28-ounce) can whole,

peeled tomatoes, pureed 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1/2 pound short, twisted pasta

such as fusilli or cavatappi Salt and ground black pepper Freshly grated parmesan

cheese

In a medium saucepan, cook bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp.

Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

To the bacon drippings, add onion and cook 5 minutes. Stir in pureed tomatoes and paprika and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes, or until sauce has thickened slightly.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, reserving1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return pasta to pot and add the tomato sauce. Toss to combine. Add reserved water to mixture and cook 1 to 2minutes. Stir in bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately topped with parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food