Ingredients
- Half a box of Flour + Water Macaroni
- 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
- 1 spring onion bulb, thinly sliced
- 4 pieces of bacon, sliced into bite size pieces
- ¼ cup heavy cream, plus more if needed
- A generous splash of dry white wine
- A squeeze of lemon juice, plus half a lemon’s worth of zest
- Salt + black pepper, to season
Method
Step 1
Bring a pot of water to a boil. When boiling, season the water generously with salt, then add the macaroni. Cook according to the package’s instructions.
Step 2
Meanwhile, heat a medium sized frying pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot but not smoking, add the bacon. Allow the bacon to render and brown in its own fat. When the bacon has released a sufficient amount of fat and has started to brown, add the sliced spring onion bulb and toss to coat. Cook on medium-low heat until the spring onion has started to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add the asparagus, toss to combine, and then deglaze the pan with a generous glug of white wine. Allow the alcohol a moment or two to mingle with the ingredients before evaporating, then add the heavy cream. Bring this mixture to a bare simmer to let all of the flavors meld. In an ideal world, your pasta timer would now be reaching its final seconds. If your timing is this lucky and precise, bravo! If this isn’t quite the case and your sauce is ready before your pasta is finished cooking - simply take the frying pan off of the heat while you wait for the pasta to reach al dente. It’s important to not overcook the asparagus, and this step helps save you the risk. If this is the case, just make sure you bring the sauce back up to a bare simmer before adding the cooked pasta.
Step 3
Add the cooked macaroni to the pan and toss until every nook and cranny is covered in bacon scented heavy cream. Add a ladle full of pasta water or another splash of heavy cream if things don’t look saucy enough. Season with a squeeze of lemon, lemon zest, a generous pinch of salt, and some black pepper.
