Bacon Tomato Pasta Salad Recipe - BLT and Pasta In A Bowl - With Bacon!!!

This is probably the last dish I turn out in the old place. There's too many things packed at this stage, so I am down to a very simple inventory of a few pots and some utensils and crappy plates to eat from. There's still a lot of stuff in the freezer, but I just wanted something fresh to celebrate my last official day of being a full time worker bee!

Who doesn't love a good BLT? And who doesn't love pasta? The two together sound like a marriage made in porky, Italianate Heaven. It's not carbonara, which is made with pancetta, and not usually bacon. But the tomatoes and fresh herbs give it a lovely, summery freshness, and orzo is one of my favorite pastas because it is very tiny and shaped like rice, so that gives it a surface that allows for deeper penetration of sauce flavors.

Are we still talking about pasta? I miss The Colonel.

Mangia!

Bacon Tomato Pasta Salad Recipe

Adapted from Food Fanatic

Ingredients

8 slices bacon

2 cups orzo pasta

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 teaspoons capers

2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half

large handful fresh basil leaves, torn

large handful fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

In a large skillet, cook the bacon strips over medium-low heat until crisp. Drain the grease from the skillet, but reserve 3 tablespoons of the grease for the dressing.

In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. When boiling, add a small handful of salt and the orzo pasta. Cook according to the directions on the box. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, make the dressing: combine the olive oil with the red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, capers and Dijon mustard. Whisk very well to combine.

When the pasta is done cooking, immediately toss it in the dressing and stir to combine. Add the diced tomato and herbs, and serve.