Bacon Can Add Smoky Flavor To Foods

If you believe bacon is bad for your health, you are both right and wrong.

Eating bacon every morning for breakfast can elevate the amount of fat in your diet, possibly contributing to heart disease, cancer or stroke. But using a few pieces in a recipe adds surprisingly little fat, especially considering bacon has a delicious, smoky flavor that no other food can duplicate.

This recipe for creamy linguine with bacon and peas contains five strips of bacon and shatters the myth that if you are counting fat grams, you must forever forego cured pork and creamy pasta. Each serving contains 304 calories and 8.5 grams of fat, or just 25 percent of calories from fat. In comparison, a baked, 4-ounce chicken breast with skin has 232 calories and 8.8 grams of fat.

The sauce is thickened with evaporated skim milk and a basic cooked flour-and-oil mixture called a roux. Traditional recipes for roux call for equal amounts of flour and oil, but this one uses just a drop of oil.

To make sure the sauce is lump-free, add the evaporated skim milk and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a gentle boil.

Creamy Linguine With Bacon and Peas

8 ounces uncooked wide linguine

5 pieces bacon, cut into pieces

1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, crushed through a press (1 teaspoon)

1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated skim milk

1 cup frozen peas

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to package directions. When tender, drain thoroughly and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, fry the bacon over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet until crisp and brown. Remove the bacon to paper towels and blot thoroughly. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the grease. (Or you may discard all the bacon grease and substitute 1 tablespoon olive or corn oil.)

Cook the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the grease or oil until the vegetables are soft and slightly brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside.

In a small dish, combine the flour, salt, basil, white pepper and nutmeg. Add the 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium-low heat. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the oil and stir with a wire whisk or a slotted spoon for 1 minute, until the flour is slightly toasted.

Pour the evaporated skim milk into the skillet, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming. (If lumps form, don’t worry, just keep stirring.) Cook until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.

Stir the bacon and vegetables into the sauce, then add the peas, lemon juice and Parmesan cheese. Cook over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then stir in the cooked pasta. If sauce is too thick, thin with 1 to 2 tablespoons water or regular skim milk.

Yield: 5 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 304 calories, 8.5 grams fat (25 percent fat calories), 12 grams protein, 46 grams carbohydrate, 6 milligrams cholesterol, 338 milligrams sodium.

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