Peas and bacon are a natural flavor pairing of sweet and salty. It’s the kind of menu item you might find at a restaurant. When you make a creamy pasta sauce with bacon fig jam, that makes dinner doable in 10 minutes.
Pasta Night in a Flash
You can use whatever kind of long noodles are available in your pantry. We suggest using spaghetti, but cappellini, fettucine, or tagliatelle could work too. Then again penne, rigatoni, rotini, or even macaroni noodles would be good in this pasta. The main thing to consider is the cling of sauce to pasta. Using our Instant Pot Fig Bacon Jam with Shallots means you get tinier pieces of flavor threaded throughout the dish full of peas and bacon.
Hang on to Your Pasta Water
Pasta water is the secret ingredient that makes restaurant sauces supple and is within reach in home kitchens too. The gluten from the noodles is what clouds pasta water… and adds body to pasta sauce. Fill your stock pot with water and salt it… just consider filling the pot only halfway as that will fortify the water with more of the gluten. We always suggest hanging onto more pasta water than you need just in case (and even if you have leftovers, you can use some of the pasta water the next day to reheat the pasta).
Stir Together Creamy Sauce
When it comes to making creamy pasta sauce with bacon, there are several things to keep in mind. We like to use sour cream to cut through some of the richness of the bacon fig jam sauce starter, but creme fraiche or Greek yogurt would be good too for a bit of tang. If you want to keep the dish creamy without tang, think about using mascarpone. Whatever you have on hand or decide to use, can work in this easy pasta dish. The main thing here is make the Instant Pot bacon fig jam once and you can find creative ways to keep using it such as a bowl of spaghetti to twirl.
You could deepen this pasta dish with figs, peas and bacon by adding in grated Parmesan when seasoning to taste at the end. The cheese will add extra umami but is totally optional. Another garnish idea here would be adding in chopped fresh parsley too.
Creamy Spaghetti with Figs, Peas and Bacon
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons fig bacon jam
- 1/4 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
- 3 tablespoons peas (frozen is fine)
- Black pepper
- Salt
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to manufacturer's instructions. Drain pasta and reserve 3/4 cup pasta water.
- Place a skillet over medium heat. Once hot stir in bacon jam and 1/2 cup pasta water until combined. Add sour cream until combined and thickened. Add peas and cook until bright green, about 1-2 minutes more.
- Toss noodles in the sauce until coated, adding in a tablespoon of pasta water if needed. Season to taste with black pepper and salt.
3 Comments on “Creamy Spaghetti with Figs, Peas and Bacon”
I’m picking the figs fresh off my tree. Really sweet. But i think I prefer dried figs. How can that be?
This looks yummy!
It is yummy! If you make it, let us know what you think.