It's been a Long Week

Been hectic this week. What with working long days and then having to come home and study so my dinners were quick and pretty repetitive. Probably the nicest dinner I had this week was last night's. We were going out for a few drinks with friends so it had to be cooked fast, and what's faster than pasta? Forgot to take a picture but hey I had to get ready!!

Mushroom & Bacon Macaroni

Thickly sliced mushrooms, as much as you like, I used three quarters of a carton!
2 rashers, chopped into little pieces
2 shallots, finely sliced
Garlic clove, left whole but kinda smashed
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Lashings of black pepper
Sea salt
Macaroni or any other small pasta

While the macaroni simmered on the hob, I quickly dry-fried the rashers until really crispy. I removed them to drain the fat off on kitchen paper. Then I added the sliced mushrooms to the pan, let them sizzle for a minute or two and then sprayed them with low-fat spray oil. Once they were beginning to turn golden, I added the whole garlic clove and the shallots and let the whole lot cook for a minute or two until the onion had softened slightly. Then returned the rasher to the pan and a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water, the black pepper and a little pinch of salt (this depends on the saltiness of the rashers). Then I quickly grated over some parmesan. The net effect of this is that the parmesan binds everything together with the pasta water. You can let the majority of the water boil out. If you're feeling decadent (I wasn't!) add a splash to white wine and bubble it down until the alcohol is cooked out.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan, another grating of parmesan and give the whole lot a good stir. Before you chow down, grind some more black pepper over and another grating of parmesan. Don't forget to remove the garlic clove before you serve, you only need a hint of it in the background. In total, this dinner only takes as long as the time needed to cook the pasta so definitely good when you're in a hurry.