I Can’t Stop Staring at This Bowl Filled with Bacon and Cream Cheese Pasta

Have you ever seen a recipe on Instagram and knew you had to make it for dinner TONIGHT? This is what happened to me and this ultra-indulgent bacon and cream cheese pasta recipe from Salt & Lavender. Just look at the thing! There’s tortellini! And bacon! And it’s covered in a cream sauce! My heart skipped a beat.  

This 30-minute bacon and cream cheese sauce bears a resemblance to the Alfredo sauce you may have encountered in restaurants. It’s as rich, smooth, and creamy as a person could possibly want. The bacon, of course, is always welcome. The recipe starts by cooking the bacon in a pan, removing the crunchy bits and reserving them for later, and then using the rendered bacon fat to cook some garlic for the pasta sauce. (Rendered bacon fat is the flavor equivalent of liquid gold.) The sauce itself is made by melting cream cheese in the same pan with chicken broth and heavy cream, which really makes something pretty delicious.

In addition to adding a ton of salty, tangy, savory flavor, the cream cheese and Parmesan also thicken the sauce of cream and chicken broth, so there’s no need to add flour or cornstarch. The end result is like a cross between Alfredo sauce and macaroni and cheese, with bacon for a bit of crunch. It’s easy and rich, and so intensely full of cheese and cream that it deserves a spot in the hall of fame of comfort foods. 

Get the Recipe: Bacon Cream Cheese Tortellini from Salt & Lavender

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