Who even knew that there was a day JUST for us bacon lovers? Celebrate Bacon Lover’s Day on August 20 with this delicious pasta dinner – spaghetti with pork and pine nut meatballs in Amatriciana sauce. HOLY YUM.
Pasta dinners are always a winner when cooking for the family. And as tempting as it is to just fry off some mince, add sauce and boil pasta, going the EXTRA MILE with a bit of care and extra ingredients can make all the difference to serving a flavour-packed meal.
Just over half an hour is all the time you need to get this lush dish on the table! If your kids object to spice – leave the chilli flakes out. Easily done!
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Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 150g rindless bacon
- 750g pork mince
- ½ cup roasted red capsicums, finely chopped
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup finely grated Parmesan
- 100g pine nuts, toasted and chopped
- 2 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- sea salt flakes and ground black pepper
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 brown onions, very finely diced
- 600ml best-quality tomato passata
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 400g spaghetti
- Grated Parmesan, oregano, and lemon wedges, to serve
Method
- Place the bacon in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Combine the bacon crumb with the mince, capsicums, breadcrumbs, eggs, grated Parmesan, pine nuts, Italian herbs and half the garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Then mix together well.
- Form into walnut-sized pieces, then set aside. Heat half the olive oil in a saucepan, then fry the onions and remaining garlic for 5 minutes until softened. Add the passata and chilli, then simmer briefly. Meanwhile, fry the meatballs in the remaining olive oil until browned, then pour the sauce over the top and simmer gently.
- Cook the spaghetti according to manufacturer’s instructions, until al dente, then drain well and toss through the sauce. Top with Parmesan, oregano and lemon wedges.
And there you have it, a delicious family dinner of spaghetti and bacon meatballs perfect for Bacon Lover’s Day. Or ANY DAY, let’s be honest.
Don’t forget the garlic bread – in fact, why not try serving it in the same style as our incredible spaghetti cob loaf just for some bonus fun?
This is an original recipe from Ed Halmagyi. Mitsubishi Electric Australia understands that the kitchen is the heart of the home and encourages Australians to cook with the freshest of ingredients. As the Mitsubishi Electric Ambassador, Ed highlights how Aussies can cook fresh but still enjoy the feel of winter comfort food.
