It is a well known fact that some of the best dishes are accidental or thrown together at the last minute--the classic Ceasar salad comes to mind. Well, this is my mid-day masterpiece, destined to become a classic on my table if nowhere else.
I had about 30 minutes for lunch and a profound desire not to run to the store and buy something. So I rummaged through the fridge and through the pantry and came up with this spicy, delectable, irresistable dish. It was so easy.
While I boiled some pasta--we had some parpadelle on hand--I found some bacon slices and threw those in a skillet to cook until crisp. Meanwhile, I found some pitted olives which I rough chopped and then went back to the fridge to consider my options for a sauce. Wouldn't you know it but there was that package of Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil looking right out at me. Not having any stretch bread on hand I thought, why not take Cheeky Monkey's advice and try it as a sauce. That it is a local product sealed the deal.
Once the bacon was done I put it on a paper towel to drain, I poured the bacon drippings into a jar for another day, and poured in the tomato oil. I crumbled up the bacon and added them to the skillet along with the olives to warm. Once the pasta was done I lifted it out and dried them on paper towels too. I know that sounds weird but remember, oil and water don't mix. I wanted the pasta dry enough to take the tomato oil.
As the sauce heated up it took on a broken consistency (that's where the oil separates out a bit) so I drained a little of the oil off, put the pasta in the skillet, mixed it all together, and into the bowl it went. It took all of, what, ten minutes? This delicious combination of the slightly sweet and pinquant sauce with crisped bacon pieces and olives is a definite keeper.
N.B. Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil is found at a few locations in Syracuse, Ithaca, and Skaneateles but they're willing to ship--and it is worth it.
Archive Alert: On this day last year I was Eating Local and Quasi-Seasonal.
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