Bacon & Zucchini? Yes Please!

Alright guys I'm breaking up the craziness - the drama-filled comments from my POB post, and the SHOCKED comments about how I sound (what did you all think I sounded like?! haha!) - with a recipe that is too good not to share.

I found this recipe on Blissfully Domestic (a great site everyone should read) and tried it out. It needed a lot of work to fit our tastes - we felt there was too much pasta and not enough zucchini. We also felt that adding bacon would really jazz it up. So without further adieu, here is our "Sweet & Salty" Zucchini Bacon Pasta!

Ingredients:
-4 zucchinis of average size (can be altered to taste)
-1 head of garlic
-Olive oil
-5-6 ounces (weighed uncooked) of angel hair pasta, preferably wheat or wheat blend
-4-6 strips bacon, cooked
-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (minimum - add more to taste)

It is important to prep your ingredients early because this recipe is hands-on. Have the bacon ready before you start cooking. Also grating the Parmesan earlier will make you happier later. Oh and put that water to boil early!

Start by coarsely grating the zucchini. I used the biggest side of my grater, as you can see.

Oh zucchini you will be so tasty!

You also start by smooshing the garlic. You know. Mincing is probably the word. But that's a LOT of garlic so I used the garlic-smoosher-press-thing from Pampered Chef. This picture is from early in the process, there was a lot more garlic when I was done.

Make sure you have your bacon done.

Saute the garlic in a little bit of olive oil. After a few minutes add the zucchini. The pan will need to be a saute pan- it won't fit in a frying pan. I had them on a good medium heat. You will need to stir it near constantly until it is done, 10-15 minutes.

You've already grated your Parmesan cheese right? I wish I had a better grater for the cheese! I got tired of doing it which is why there are two sizes. I need to get a good Parmesan grater.

If you put your water on early enough, you can multi-task efficiently. As your zucchini cooks down, watch your timer. Note the time the pasta will take to cook. Subtract one minute and put the pasta in when you have that much time left. For example, my pasta took 7 minutes so I put it in the water when there were 6 minutes left on the zucchini. That way, I took the zucchini off the heat, and had a minute to test the pasta and what-not, and then took it off as well.

You will need to have your bacon crumbled. I mixed it with the cheese to make them easier to add.

Return the pasta to the pot after draining. Add the zucchini garlic mixture.

Dump in the cheese and bacon mixture, and stir well. Because there isn't a thick sauce, everything doesn't stick super well to the pasta. It is better on a plate so that the good bits don't fall to the bottom of a bowl.

If you are not lazy, garnish with some Parmesan and some bacon. Or just pile it on and eat it! It makes 2 huge servings or 4 smaller one. You can easily alter this recipe to suit your likes and dislikes.

Please let me know if you try this recipe! I would love to hear how it went for you.