It’s the day before Christmas Eve. And like just about everyone else, I have a ginormous to-do list.
I’m supposed to be bagging up the biscotti and wrapping caramels.
Instead, I’m watching a disappointing football game (spoil it and tell me it gets better – I’m an entire half behind), trying to relax after hitting 6 or 7 stores in what will forever be known as the Great Cranberry Clusterdebacle of 2012, and wearing a shirt that smells like I burned 4 pieces of bacon at breakfast.
And that’s because I burned the bacon at breakfast.
But I didn’t burn the bacon at lunch. And that was important because it was the last of the bacon in the house and there’s no way I’m stepping foot into another grocery store until December 26th. At least.
Bacon and Pea Macaroni & Cheese
Dress up homemade macaroni and cheese with crispy bacon and green peas.
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne or macaroni pasta (I use Dreamfields)
- 8 oz frozen peas
- 4 thick slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I use fat-free Greek)
- Dash of hot sauce
- 4 oz cheddar, shredded
- 4 oz fontina, shredded (or other melt-friendly cheese - not more cheddar)
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saute pan, cook the bacon to a crisp and then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions, until al dente.
- Add the peas to the pasta water in the last minute of cooking.
- Reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining the pasta and peas.
- Return the pasta and peas to pot.
- Add 1/4 cup pasta water (it must be hot), the yogurt, a few dashes of hot sauce, and 1/3 of the grated cheese and stir until the cheese has melted.
- Stir in remaining cheese, one small handful at a time to prevent clumping.
- Add additional pasta water as necessary to thin and melt the cheese sauce.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the bacon, mix well, and serve.
Notes
Yields: 4 servings
Estimated time: 20 minutes
Nutritional Information
Calories: 425.3 | Fat: 15.5g | Fiber 12.4g | Protein 23.8g | Carbs 14.5g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 7
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
If it makes you feel any better, I decided to make homemade pasta this afternoon for me and my boyfriend. For lunch. And now I’m SO BEHIND. Sigh. I need to stress-eat some of this mac and cheese. STAT.
Definitely going to have to remember to make this after all the holiday craze.
I love that you added peas! It makes it seem french
Oh my gosh this looks delish! I want it right now!
thanks for the healthy alternative tip! I usually use full cream or mascarpone – greek yogurt sounds like a great alternative!!
and stunning mouth watering photos by the way!
I like that you used greek yogurt. I just made some light mac and cheese with some reduced fat milk and corn starch. But I imagine the greek yogurt can help cut a lot of those calories. I’ll have to try this out.
gonna have to eat this
Fab idea! Must try it! Hope that the rest of your christmas went smoothly without any burnt bits!
Curious, why not cheddar cheese (I have sharp and mild on hand)? Will be trying this recipe.
The sauce doesn’t get creamy & smooth if you use more than half cheddar.
Hey Shawnda, you’re one of the few bloggers I follow who has great photography AND does a lot of dinner-y foods… how do you work it out? You’d cook, say, a turkey (!) in the morning just so you can shoot it in natural light?
Thank you! It really depends on how dark it is and how motivated I am
For totally dark, I use a tripod and bounce the flash in my totally dark dining room (set focus, switch off auto focus, turn off lights, shoot). For times when there is still some usable light outside, I use a tripod and super slow shutter speed (no flash) next to a window. Weekends are my best friends right now – big, late lunches = dinnery foods with lots of pretty light available.
Made this for dinner last night. It was AMAZING! Next time I think i’ll add mushroom just to make it that much better. Thanks!
Thank you!!!!! For putting weight watchers points on this recipe
This was delicious, buuuut, the WW points are WAY off. The cheese alone (8 oz divided by 4 servings) is 6 points…I made with turkey bacon and high fiber penne (Ronzoni Smart Taste) and it still came in at 11 points! As written, it must be closer to 15 or 20.
I use and recommend SparkRecipes for all calorie calculations. You’ll get some variation because of different brands (example: I use Dreamfields Pasta and Total Fage yogurt) or inexact measurements (I weigh everything – “bad” things like bacon down to the gram) but 7 points is most definitely accurate for this recipe.
I am making this next week!
Just fyi, I’m a Spark user, and I got 494 calories per serving, assuming 4 servings. I use center cut bacon which is 50 calories for 2 slices, 10oz of peas (since the boxes are usually 10oz), 2% Fage, Barilla whole grain penne, 4oz of shredded cheddar and 4oz of shredded mozzarella. Maybe the calorie difference is the type of pasta or the difference in cheeses? I also got 31 grams of protein and 18 grams of fat so I’m thinking it’s the type of cheeses I’m using that is causing the difference.
511 calories is still great for me though, so I’m not complaining. Just wanted to back up your comment that different brands etc really can lead to some variations. It’s always a good idea to do your own building on a site like Sparkrecipes if that’s something that’s important to you (not you Shawnda, you meaning the reader in general).
Oops I mean 494 calories is still great for me.
Just made this tonight for dinner. It was delicious and husband approved. I found shredded Cabot cheddar on sale so I just used that instead of cheddar and fontina and of course I added a little extra cheese but it was reduced fat so it’s ok. Def a keeper in the recipe box!
Yum! My son will love this, thanks
I made this dish and it was fabulous.
I added red peppers and black olives and sprinkled
some peccarino cheese on top.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING!!! I’m adding this recipe to my recipe book.