Thursday, January 10, 2008

Bacon and Cheese Creamy Pasta


Bacon and cheese are such well paired ingrediants. These ingrediants certainly do not belong to the "health food section", since they are usually high in fat. Having gone through my weight battle, I'm certainly more conscious about what I place in my mouth.

It's a big myth that losing weight means avoiding good food altogether. Sure I reduced fizzy drinks and chips, but they are not necessary good food either. I'm also such a cookie and chocolate fan so it's hard to cut everything out entirely.

Creamy food is such an indulgence. A good one too. I remind myself that there are loads of calcium to be consumed in there. Besides, it's delicious and fills you up.

and it doesn't have to be unhealthy.

My version of Bacon and Cheese Creamy Pasta uses Skim Evaporated milk, skim milk, flour and a few tablespoons of spread. The bacon is lean and trimmed of fat. Despite the reduction of calories and the added benefit of calcium, you will be surprise to know that it doesn't compromise in taste. Sure, it's not as rich as a full-cream base version... but I rather save my calories for something sweet for dessert.

Bacon and Cheese Creamy Pasta
150 grams of lean bacon cut in cubes
1 cup of skim evaporated milk 98.5% fat free
1/2 cup of skim milk
2 tablespoons of margarine/spread/butter
1 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of low fat chedder cheese
Pasta of your choice

Cook pasta in a pot of boiling water. Drain.

Heat pan with bacon bits. Once it browned, remove from pan. Make white sauce by melting spread in the same pan. Add flour in. Stir till mixture turns golden brown. At this point, add in skim evaporated milk and skim milk. Using a sauce whisk, keep stirring till the flour mixture blended into the milk (approximately 5-10 minutes). Following that, add in cheese. Stir till cheese melts. Add in some water if the mixture appears too thick. Mix in bacon and pasta. Once combined, ladle it up and serve with a dash of freshly cracked pepper and your favorite side salad.

PS-I would probably use a flatter sort of pasta the next time I make this. This will probably trap the sauce better than the thin sort of pasta.

8 comments:

Little Corner of Mine said...

This is pretty low fat to me, all the skim milks and low fat cheese, sure make it healtier.

BTW, got an award for you, come and claim it! :)

Big Boys Oven said...

this is awesome, my love of bacon in cream sauce is incredible unspoken. now you had provoked me !!! that's really really bad!

Retno Prihadana said...

Hmm...I should follow you. Starting to use only Low fat milk.

tigerfish said...

I usually don't do cream-based pasta at home. When i have craving for that, I eat out! Tomato-based still my fav!

Anonymous said...

I never make my own the cheese creamy pasta, but it's a good suggestion to use skim milk and low fat cheese.

bigfish_chin said...

Bacon and Pasta eh~ look delicious oh! I bet the smell must b extremely good too ah~

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I'm so glad to hear it, Daphne. I use low-fat ingredients too and still enjoy the flavor without all the unhealthy fat. Keep up the good food! :)

daphne said...

Little Corner- hehe..the award is soo cute that I'm keeping it for a few more days.. ;p

big boys oven-yum yum! I think creamy sauce and bacon goes so well together!

retno- hehe.. Soy milk is pretty nice toO!

tigerfish-I find tomato base is lighter and easier to swallow! Creamy base makes me feel "full" easily..

celine- hehe.. alternatives i guess.. not as good as the real thing but close to!

bigfish_chin- hehe.. it's great to be able to eat without worrying abt the fat content!

susan- I'm glad to hear that from you too!

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