Pasta Bake with Danish Bacon – for a crowd!
Ingredients
- 500g pack large pasta e.g. Rigatoni (I used Zitone #19)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 large white onion medium dice
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 250g Hellers Danish Eye Bacon roughly chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and finely diced
- 1 eggplant peeled and roughly chopped into dice
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 tbsp capers (optional)
- 15 each Kalamata olives (optional)
- 1 tsp each oregano, rosemary and thyme
- 2 x 400g cans of chopped Italian tomatoes in thick sauce
- 1 cup shaved parmesan
- A handful of chopped Italian parsley
- Olive oil
- Cracked pepper and sea salt
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Preheat oven to 180C
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In a large deep fry pan or heavy based pot over medium heat add ½ the olive oil. Add the onion and cook for 5 mins, now add the <a href="/product/free-range-danish-middle-eye">bacon</a> and cook for a further 5-7 mins. Add the garlic, carrot, eggplant, red peppers and remaining olive oil and sauté for 8-10 mins until the eggplant becomes tender.
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To this add the oregano, rosemary and thyme and cook for 3 mins. Add the chopped tomatoes and allow the sauce to simmer gently for 10 mins or so [do not allow it to reduce too much] until the vegetables become just tender. Season well and set aside somewhere warm.
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Cook your pasta al dente to the packets instructions [usually 8 mins]. Drain the pasta and then drizzle liberally with olive oil to stop it from sticking.
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Grease a large 25-30cm baking dish with butter and spread ¼ of the sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish. Add a layer of pasta and then a light sprinkling of shaved parmesan, repeating this until the final layer. The final layer should end pasta then parmesan then sauce and then a final sprinkling of parmesan.
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Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins.
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To serve sprinkle the top of the pasta bake with parsley. Serve alongside a fresh green salad and crusty garlic bread.
Free Range Danish Middle Eye Bacon
Manuka smoked, crispy, and delicious. Our new range of Danish Free Range is of an exceptional quality for when you are entertaining guests or just wanting to treat yourself. Recommended by the Danish Animal Welfare Society.
250g Pack
