The Food Network has been having new shows of the Pioneer Woman lately. She is one of my new favs. Ina still is in first place though, but I just love to watch her cook and learn about her life and family. Much more interesting than mine is anyway. On Saturday’s show she made this pasta. I wanted to make it right away since I had all the ingredients on hand. This pasta should be called Kid and Adult Friendly Pasta. You just don’t have to be a kid to enjoy this one. It has 3 of my favorite ingredients in there: cheese, bacon, and tomatoes. Can’t go wrong with that!

To make this pasta lighter, I used light mayonnaise and 1% milk. That was used to figure out the points plus value. If you really wanted to, you could use turkey bacon. I don’t really recommend that because I prefer the real bacon. This would be a great lunch time meal served with some fruit.

Oh yeah, go ahead and pin my recipes.  I don’t know if any one has noticed yet but I’ve placed a pin it button on every recipe. Happy pinning!

Servings: 8

Points Plus: 8

Calories 328, Fat 10.07g, Carbohydrate 39.68g, Fiber 2.4g, Protein 19.49g

Recipe from the Pioneer Woman

Kid Friendly Pasta

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 12oz pasta (fun shaped)
• 8 small slices of bacon
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (halved lengthwise)
• 1/2lb cheddar (cut into small cubes)
• 3 green onions
• ground black pepper
• 24 sprigs basil leaves

Directions

Step 1

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Then drain and rinse in cold water until cool. Set aside.

Step 2

Cut the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces and throw into a large skillet. Saute until slightly crisp, and then remove to a paper-towel-lined-plate.

Step 3

For the dressing, mix the mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, salt, and sugar if using in a small bowl.

Step 4

Stir together the pasta, dressing, tomatoes, bacon, Cheddar and green onions in a large mixing bowl. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if needed.

Step 5

Stir in the basil at the end.