Linguine Alfredo With Bacon Bits

Ingredients

• Serves 8
• 1 package bacon
• 1 lb linguine
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup half and half or whole milk
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
• 1 cup romano cheese, grated (or use parmesan or combination)
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Time this meal so the pasta, bacon and sauces are all cooking at the same time.
2. Place the bacon pieces into a large skillet and cook until nice and crispy. Remove the cooked bacon onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Once cooled enough to handle, crumble the bacon into bits with your fingertips.

Linguine

1. To cook pasta, fill a large pot 2/3 of the way with hot tap water. Add 1 teaspoon salt to the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and stir with a wooden spoon to be sure noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
2. Always make sure there is lots of water in the pot when cooking any pasta so the pasta has room to roll around while it is cooking.
3. Turn the heat down, enough to maintain a boil and stir every so often to prevent noodles sticking. Do not cover the pot. After 8-10 minutes, take a piece of pasta out of the water, allow it to cool and do a test for doneness.
4. Bite into the pasta. If it is too hard to bite or you see a white center, it needs to cook a little longer. When it cooks all the way through it is ready and cooked el dente.
5. Put the pasta into a strainer. Shake out excess water and put the pot back onto a cool part of the stove.

Alfredo Sauce

1. While noodles are cooking, melt the butter in a medium size saucepan. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned.
2. Sprinkle on the flour and cook for a minute.
3. Add the cream and milk and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Stir as necessary to prevent scorching.
4. Add the cheese, stir in, shut off the heat and stir the cheese until it is melted in and you have a nice sauce.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve each portion of linguine with Alfredo sauce and bacon bits.