Creamy Tomato Pasta

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of pasta (Penne, Travelle, Shells, your choice Fettucine is also good)
• 200ml light cooking cream
• 3 tblspn low fat Ricotta cheese
  
• 400g tin of diced italian tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 rashes of bacon cut into small strips
• garlic, 2 or 3 cloves, crushed
• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh parmesan, grated
• 1 tsp chili, finely chopped - optional

METHOD

1. Cook pasta as per intructions, drain and set aside.
2. Cook the onion with some oil or butter in a deep frying pan or large pot until it becomes soft and translucent (about 3-5 mins). Add the bacon and garlic and cook for a further 5 mins.
3. Add the can of diced tomatoes and half the parsley, plus the chili if you used it. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins.
   
4. Reduce the heat to low and add the cream, Ricotta and half the parmesan. Mix thoroughly and then toss in the pasta, ensuring all the pasta is coated in the creamy sauce.
5. Serve and garnish with the remaining parsley and parmesan, add Salt and cracked Pepper to taste.

This recipe is so easy to make, and tastes great. For the vegetarians out there, you can easily substitute the bacon for sliced or diced capsicum, or even mushrooms. This dish can be modified to include diced chicken breast or thighs, Italian sausages, or 400g of cooked chicken mince. More chilli is great for the adventurous sort. My wife and I also discovered that this dish is wicked served cold the next day also!

Enjoy!

James The Not So Skinny Cook