Creamy Garlic Pasta with Bacon and Mushroom

Creamy Garlic Pasta with Bacon and Mushroom! It is in all aspect, an honest-to-goodness decadent and ultra-luxurious pasta dish. What’s in the sauce? Crispy bacon, mushroom, and toasted garlic—smothered in a rich and creamy sauce.

This dish is actually known as “Dada’s Pasta” in our household. It is the Dada’s most favorite pasta, hands down! It was his birthday the first time I made this so I knew I had to make it “extra indulgingly” special.

To spoil him (in other words), I put together all the good stuff that he likes in one dish—garlicky flavor, bacon, mushroom, and cream-based pasta. Yep! All the “good” stuff.

CRISP THE BACON, MORE FLAVOR!

Before anything else, make the crispy bacon. You will need its fat to make the sauce flavorful.

Start by putting the bacon strips in a cold pan. Turn on the heat and cook it slowly until it turns brown and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan then transfer one tablespoon grease to another pan where you are going to cook the pasta. I wanted a white and less bacony sauce, hence a separate pan.

If you prefer to keep all that bacon flavor, use the drippings with gusto! The sauce will turn light brown in color and really rich with flavor. Like this one.

Enjoy. Indulge. Celebrate.

CREAMY MUSHROOM PASTA SAUCE

To make the cream slightly thicker, make a roux. Add equal parts of butter and flour to the browned garlic. Then finally to balance all that richness, add mushrooms. I used brown button mushrooms; other subtly-flavored mushrooms are the good alternatives. It is the light earthy flavor we are after.

Note that slices of broccoli were also added for some pop of color (and probably and to lessen the guilt just a bit, haha). Just add your choice of vegetables.

Garlicky creamy sauce

• Cook the garlic in the bacon oil (fat), keep stirring until just brown.
• Watch it carefully to avoid over-toasting; burned garlic can make the sauce bitter.
• Scoop out more than half of the browned garlic and add it again once the cream and milk are simmering.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you infused the garlic flavor to the sauce. Hmm…Can you smell it already?

Love pasta? Try these recipes too!

Cream Cheese Pasta Sauce
Cheesy Baked Macaroni with Meat Sauce
Minced Beef Sopas-Filipino Style Macaroni Beef Soup

Watch the video on how to make Creamy Garlic Pasta with Bacon and Mushroom

Print Recipe

Creamy Garlic Pasta with Bacon and Mushroom

An honest-to-goodness decadent and ultra-luxurious pasta dish. The sauce is made of crispy bacon, mushroom, and toasted garlic smothered in a rich and creamy sauce!

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Course: Main Course

Keyword: creamy garlic pasta, mushroom pasta

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Author: Mella

Ingredients

• 400 grams bacon chopped
• 1/2 cup garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 250 grams mushrooms
• 200 grams broccoli chopped, optional
• 1 cup milk
• 400 ml / 1 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped, divided
• 1 cup parmesan cheese (or more!) divided
• 1/2 cup pasta water or chicken broth add more if needed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 400 grams pasta cooked al dente

Instructions

• Place chopped bacon in a cold skillet. Turn on heat then set to medium. Cook and stir until the bacon is crisp about 5 minutes. Set aside the bacon and reserve the drippings and bacon fat.
• In another pan over medium heat, pour about 1 to 2 tablespoons bacon fat. Add garlic. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes until brown. Scoop out about 3/4 of the garlic and set aside.
• Add butter, stir until melted. Add the flour, whisk for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, broccoli, milk, cream, and pasta water or broth. Stir, then simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until the vegetables are almost cooked.
• Add back half of the bacon and half of the browned garlic.
• Stir in parsley, and half cup parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another minute then turn off the heat.
• Add pasta and toss gently in the sauce. If it becomes too thick, add about 1/4 cup (or more) of pasta water.
• Turn off the heat. Garnish with remaining, bacon, garlic, parsley, and cheese. Serve and enjoy! 

Notes

• Watch the garlic carefully to avoid over-toasting; burned garlic can make the sauce bitter.
• Adjust the amount of bacon fat according to your preference.
• Brocolli can be entirely omitted. But if you also want a pop of color, green peas and spinach are good substitutes.
• If you don't have cream, just double the amount of milk.
• Using chicken broth instead of pasta water gives an extra boost of flavor.

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Last Updated on December 9, 2019