ANNE BURRELL'S TAGLIATELLE WITH BURST CHERRY TOMATOES, BACON, AND SPRING MIX

rest in peace anne burrell. worst cooks in america is a guilty pleasure series of mine, and i'd binge seasons 3-5 over and over when i'm in the mood. a big highlight is when a semi-finalist made this dish for her young son, and the kid shoveled it nonstop into his mouth. understandably so.

this is my go-to dish. my wife and i eat it almost every week. it's easy, it's delicious, and it's well-balanced with plenty of vegetables for you to feel good about it. i've modified it so that it's much easier for myself, uses spring mix which i prefer over arugula, and i don't have to precisely measure out ingredients. thank you anne. you'll continue to live on in my life through this recipe.

ingredients: (makes ~5 servings)

  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 oz bacon (thick cut ideal)
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed
  • a pinch of crushed red pepper
  • 1 pint of cherry tomatoes (i recommend the cherubs)
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 5 oz spring mix (basically the entire pack)
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (a microplane is great to use for this. also you can just eyeball the amount. there is never too much cheese for this recipe.)
  • 1 pound tagliatelle

steps:

1) coat a large wide pan with olive oil. toss in the bacon, garlic and red pepper; bring to medium-high heat. when the garlic turns golden and is very aromatic, 2 to 3 minutes in, remove it from the pan and discard it.

2) add cherry tomatoes to pan and roll them around until they're coated in the oil. add the stock, reduce the heat to medium, and cook tomatoes around 10 minutes. they should begin to burst by that time. if not, cook them for another 2-3 minutes.

3) cook your pasta in a separate pot of well-salted boiling water. SAVE 1/2 CUP OF THE PASTA WATER ONCE IT'S COOKED. drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the tomatoes along with that 1/2 cup of pasta water.

4) turn off the heat. add spring mix and parmigiano cheese. toss vigorously until combined. drizzle with more olive oil and enjoy!