Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo With Pesto & Canadian Bacon

Two things happened this summer that resulted in this dish: 1. We made Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo and 2. Bev decided after all of these years that she liked pesto once she ate Ina Garten’s version at a friends house.  So after I suggested we make pesto pasta, she suggested we combine the two dishes and below is the result.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo With Pesto

The Ingredients:

1¼ lb. grape and diced tomatoes

3/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium cloves garlic, finely minced by hand

18 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

1 cup pesto – Link above, we made a half recipe

Kosher salt

16 oz. thin spaghetti

The Directions:

1. Make the pesto per the recipe below and set aside.

2. In a pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until al dente.

3. Drain pasta using a colander and return to cooking pot.

4. Add pesto to the pasta and stir well until the pesto is evenly distributed.

5. Add pasta to bowl with tomatoes.

The Verdict:

It was very good but the chopped tomatoes provided more flavor.

Maple Cured Canadian Bacon

I made another round of Canadian Bacon using my new go to recipe from “Serious Eats.”  It’s supposed to cure in the brine for five days but I forgot it and it went for two weeks so I gave it a couple of one hour soaks in cold water to reduce the salt.  The last time I made it, I just dried it with paper towels and it didn’t get very brown.

So this time, I dried it in the fridge overnight then smoked it at 250 F (least the grill would run) to an internal temp of 145F.  

Since my smoker has a problem, I used my Weber grill with apple wood chunks and soaked chips in the smoke box.  I started cooking it right out of the fridge so it would spend maximum time in the smoke and it ended up with a nice color this time (ignore the probe thermometer hole).

It was still a little too salty but it was perfect for a delicious egg mcmuffin.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry