Stuff Parents Need

This post was created in partnership with Bi-Lo. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

At my local grocery store, Bi-Lo, there is a BIG celebration going on, and it is all about bacon.

Awww yeah! #BaconLove is spreading like wildfire! And honestly, what’s not to love about the food also known as “meat candy?” Bi-Lo has some really great deals happening right now on all things bacon, so if you live in the part of the country that has a Bi-Lo, don’t miss out on your chance to go “hog wild” (Snort snort)!

In celebration of this event, Bi-Lo asked me to share my favorite bacon recipe, and I didn’t even have to think for a second before I knew what I’d be sharing. Friends, today I’m going to teach you how to make this:

Aside from cold cereal, which will always be the culinary equivalent of my first love, spaghetti carbonara is my favorite meal. I would eat this twice a week for the rest of my life with absolutely no complaints. Please understand that as a general rule, I don’t make the same dish in my home more than once every six months. I can’t stand to eat the same food frequently (yes, it is every bit as annoying as it sounds…I curse myself daily for needing so much variety). Anyway, the point is, for me to have a food other than cereal that I will eat so often is a REALLY. BIG. DEAL. And that’s because it is just that good.

And what makes it so good?  The bacon, of course!

So here’s what you need to get started:

1 package bacon

1 lb spaghetti noodles

2 eggs, cracked and scrambled in a bowl (but not cooked!)

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

handful of fresh parsley (roughly 1/3 cup) (spring for the fresh stuff…it’s worth it!)

1/3 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil, and arrange bacon on the sheets. Once the oven is preheated, cook the bacon in the oven for 15-20 minutes (start watching it at the 15 minute mark). Such an easy way to get perfectly crisp bacon! While the bacon is doing its thing, get some water boiling for your spaghetti. Once you have a rolling boil, cook your noodles for the time indicated on the package.

While your noodles are cooking, go ahead and get your parsley chopped. I use kitchen shears to get the job done fast! Now’s also the time to grate your cheese, get your eggs cracked and scrambled in the bowl, and to start heating up the olive oil and the butter in a pan. Once the oil/butter combo is hot, add the garlic and cook it for a few minutes until it turns golden.

By this point, the bacon might be done. if so, remove it from the oven, and once it is safe to touch it, get it all nice and crumbled (once again, I used the kitchen shears!). Set crumbled bacon to the side.

Now your noodles should be done. This is where things are about to get intense, as you’ll need to do all the remaining steps fairly quickly. Ready? Here we go! Drain the cooked noodles and then return them to the pot. Add the butter/oil/garlic mixture to the pot and give it several quick stirs. Then add the scrambled raw eggs to the pot and STIR! STIR! STIR! The eggs are basically going to cook all over the noodles. You want egg-coated noodles, and not chunks of egg in your noodles. Stirring quickly is the key to success here.

Once you feel like you’ve got a good coating on your noodles, it is time to add all the other stuff (parsley, cheese and bacon) and mix it around a bit. And this is your end result!

The taste is absolutely incredible, friends! Don’t be intimidated by the crazy egg stirring step, and don’t be weirded out by how it sounds, either. Just trust me on this one and spread some #BaconLove to your family this week by giving it a try!

And since you already be interested in pasta dishes with bacon, definitely check out the Bacon with Butternut Squash Penne recipe. It’s SO yum!

What’s your favorite bacon recipe? Do tell!