Pigs & Angels

Capelli d'Angeli con Patate, Pancetta e Cavolini di Bruxelle

Angel Hair Pasta with Potato, Bacon & Brussels Sprouts

It has been a long 2 weeks for poor me to have to live without a kitchen! To add insult to injury- once it was finally "fitted" last week, amongst many mishaps, 4 of the cupboards did not fit, one of the surfaces did not fit at all and the 2 other surfaces were too short to reach to the walls... aaargh! It will still take a while for the replacements to be delivered and fitted- but imagine my happiness and surprise when I returned home this evening to find that the oven and stove top had at least been connected up! 

And not a moment too soon either- because even though I have been able to improvise and make soups and such-likes in my trusty old rice cooker, it was good to be able to make this yummy dish of comfort food this dark and dreary evening... after a tough day of work just the thing to make everything feel alright...

So if you want to fix this for yourself, go and grab a small potato, a handful of Brussels sprouts, a handful of bacon and get busy... with very little else, you will have a wonderful Winter meal ready in just 10 minutes! Are you ready? Cool! Let's get started!

Chop the potato, the bacon and half of a small onion up finely and start them frying in a dry pan, so that the fat from the bacon browns the onion and potato and gets them full of good smokey flavor. Once that is sizzling away, get your saucepan ready and your water boiling for the pasta... it's all about timing!

By the time the water is boiling, the potato, onion and bacon should be a wonderful golden brown and at this point you can add a little finely chopped garlic and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add a good pinch of cumin seed and reduce the heat, so that the flavors combine nicely, without the garlic burning and becoming bitter.  Now it's time to get the pasta boiling! It will only take 4-5 minutes... so get ready to chop up those Brussels sprouts!

I cut the sprouts into thin slices and added them to the pasta water- in such thin slices they are cooked and tender in just 3-4 minutes, which is just perfect! Once the pasta is done, drain, return to the heat with a good splash of milk and grate generously with fresh nutmeg. You know I am not going to add milk when milk will do the job and save our waistline!

Add a slight drizzle of olive oil and toss a few times to get everything coated. Soon, the water, oil and milk will combine to give the pasta a creamy and delicious coating- unctuous and delicious... but just screaming for those crispy bacon bits, savory onion and golden potatoes... oh boy! Along with the cumin seeds, a final sprinkle of black pepper and a scattering of grated salted Ricotta cheese, you are going to have one heck of a tasty supper on your hands! I I sure hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!