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, 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 lunchtime meal served with some fruit.
Oh yeah, go ahead and pin my recipes. I don’t know if anyone has noticed yet but I’ve placed a pin it button on every recipe. Happy pinning!
Servings: 8
Points Plus: 8
Recipe from the Pioneer Woman
PrintKid Friendly Pasta
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Pin RecipeIngredients
12 ounces fun-shaped pasta such as radiatore
8 slices thin bacon
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup whole milk
4 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt Dash sugar
optional 10 ounces grape tomatoes (yellow and red) halved lengthwise
1/2 pound Cheddar, cut into small cubes
3 green onions, thinly sliced
Ground black pepper
24 whole basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Then drain and rinse in cold water until cool. Set aside.
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.
For the dressing, mix the mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, salt, and sugar if using in a small bowl.
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.
Stir in the basil at the end.
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