Share this:
Mariel here. In two weeks, I’ll be headed up the coast for one of my best friend’s bachelorette parties. Since I’ve become fairly handy in the kitchen thanks to Feast, I volunteered to whip up dinner on Friday night. We’ll all be arriving from our various corners of the continental US, so we figured it’d be easier to eat in and reserve our energy for Saturday night. We’re older now, it’s better to ease in than jump in.
As soon as I raised my hand, I started stressing over what to make. I trolled through our recipe index and was sold on recreating this Farfalle with Fontina, Prosciutto and Crispy Leeks; it’s a rendition of one of our favorites from a local bistro here in town and it’s a surefire hit every time. But obviously I had to make things complicated and switch up the menu on myself.
This dish is similar in spirit but it’s even easier since it doesn’t necessitate making a Mornay Sauce. The ingredient list is incredibly short, which is a plus when serving a big group, and it takes about 20 minutes to make from start to finish. The flavor, however, tastes like anything but a shortcut.
Typically relegated to a bit part as a garnish, chives take on a starring role adding a burst of spring-green freshness. The bacon (and the bacon renderings used to saute the pasta) lend some briny depth while the goat cheese does all the usual stuff that goat cheese does. I’d go so far as to say this is the perfect bowl of pasta. But I’ll let the hens be the judge of that.
Print This Recipe
Pasta with Creamy Goat Cheese, Crisp Bacon and Fresh Chives
Serves 4
Inspired by a recipe from Everyday Living
Ingredients:
½ pound pasta (shells, farfalle, cavatappi or orechiette work best) – $1.99
1½ cups of reserved pasta water, divided
6 slices of thick-cut bacon – $3.29
4 ounces of goat cheese – $3.99
½ cup fresh chives, sliced -$1.89
½ a Meyer lemon, zested and juiced (half of a small regular lemon will work if you can’t find Meyer) – $0.39
Salt and pepper – stock
Grand total assuming “well-stocked” kitchen: $11.55
Cost per serving: $2.88
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and reserve 1½ cups of the pasta water
2. While the pasta is cooking, cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until good and crispy. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the skillet.
3. Add the goat cheese, pasta, and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet and cook in the bacon fat until the goat cheese melts. Stir frequently.
4. Remove from heat and toss in the bacon, chives, lemon juice and zest. Season with plenty of fresh pepper and add salt, if desired (but taste first, I did not need to salt this because the pasta water was salty as was the bacon). Serve immediately.
5. NOTE about remaining ½-cup of pasta water. If you have leftovers, use your remaining pasta water to reheat. It’ll help keep things from drying out.
This looks fabulous! I love what a creamy sauce goat cheese makes with pasta.
This looks delicious! I’m a big fan of quick pasta meals during the week. Must get my hands on some fresh chives!
My family =will enjoy this meal- I like your use of the goat cheese & i really like the fact that it is so quick to make.
I don’t think this dish could be more perfect! I love goat cheese & bacon 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious (so fresh and yummy!) and your pictures are amazing!
We recently launched a new site (MyRecipeMagic.com) and are looking for food bloggers like you to share your recipes. MyRecipeMagic is a site that actually pays bloggers to share their recipes AND drives traffic back to your blog by having the readers come back to your site for the entire recipe. Readers can also get the nutrition info for your recipes, put together their own cookbooks, earn reward points for using the site, and search by ingredients they have available to make yummy recipes like yours.
We would love to have you join us!
Have a great day,
The Sisters
http://www.SixSistersStuff.com
http://www.MyRecipeMagic.com
This is a great weeknight dinner recipe because it is easy to make and tastes so good after a long day of work. I also like that it is healthier than your average creamy pasta dish. I didn’t use any heavy cream or butter to make this rich and creamy pasta. The goat cheese melts in with the pasta creating a flavorful and creamy pasta dish.
I just made this for lunch and though I used a little more pasta, and a little more cheese and bacon, I found the lemon totally overwhelming. It called for a 1/2 a Meyer lemon, but the store did not have those so I used a regular lemon. I wonder if it was simply too large. Anyway, next time I will taste and add slowly rather than follow the recipe exactly.
Sorry the lemon was overwhelming! Meyer lemons do tend to be a bit smaller and sweeter so perhaps that made the difference. I’ll make a note of your experience in the ingredient list
As it turns out, goat cheese makes a really great quick, creamy pasta sauce. And whether you blanche your pasta with asparagus or you swap in fava beans or string beans or seriously, you name it, this comes together so quickly that I forgave it for not winning any beauty contests.
The goat cheese melts and becomes one with the starchy pasta water to make a creamy sauce that clings to the linguine. Because goat cheese has a strong, distinct flavor a little goes a long way.
This is a great weeknight dinner recipe because it is easy to make and tastes so good after a long day of work. I also like that it is healthier than your average creamy pasta dish. I didn’t use any heavy cream or butter to make this rich and creamy pasta. The goat cheese melts in with the pasta creating a flavorful and creamy pasta dish.