3597. FREGOLA with TOMATOES and BACON

serves 1-2


1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 slices of bacon
1 clove garlic, minced
2 chopped green onions
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons fregola (pasta)
2/3 cup canned tomatoes
2/3 cup water or chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Warm the garlic in the oil in a pan. Scissor the bacon into thin-ish strips and then add it to the pan and cook until the bacon is crispy.

Decant the bacon onto a paper towel but leave the juices in the pan. Into this warmed oil, add the spring onions and cook for about a minute. At this point, tip in the fregola and stir it around making sure each grain is slick with the bacon grease. This will just take a second or two. Make sure you’re doing this over medium-low heat because you don’t want to brown the fregola.

You can now add the tomatoes and the water or broth. Stir the mixture around a little and then crank up the heat until the fregola comes to a boil. At this point we’re going to treat the dish a lot like cooking rice on the stove. Put on a lid and turn the heat down to the lowest it will go. The fregola has to soak up all the juices!

After about 12 minutes the fregola should be cooked through. Just like with rice, use a fork to fluff up the pasta. The little morsels of pasta will be tender and there should be little to no liquid left in the pan. You can top this tasty pasta with more green onions but definitely with a handful of shaved parmesan!


bacon recipe source: Food Without The Fuss, April 18, 2013