Creamy Bacon and Butternut Squash Pasta

This recipe takes a little while longer than my typical recipe, but its a hearty meal that sounds more decadent than it is.

Ingredients:
2-3 Slices of Bacon ((I used reduced fat bacon w/ only 3 grams of fat/serving)
1-1.5 cups of chopped butternut squash
1-1.5 cups of chopped swiss chard
1/4 cup of chopped onions
2-3 cloves of garlic, cut in half
olive oil or olive oil spray
1/2 cup of low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon of heavy cream
1 serving of short pasta (whatever you think a seving is. I used whole grain fusilli, but penne would work well too)
parmesan or other hard cheese for grating

Optional
chopped fresh parsley
lemon juice

1. Toss the garlic and squash with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the squash in a 350 degree oven for 25-40 minutes (cook squash untill browned and soft) in roasting pan or oven safe skillet. You'll want to start the squash for about 10-15 minutes before the bacon goes in the pan. Turn as necessary every 10-15 minutes.
2. Chop bacon into bite-sized pieces. Cook over medium low heat until it reaches your desired crispiness then drain on a paper towel. Reserve the oil in the pan.
3. Bring water to a boil for the pasta.
4. Lower the heat on the skillet to low. Sautee the onions in the reserved oil from the bacon. Once the onions are soft discard any remaining oil (you can leave about a teaspoon, just dump out the extra)
5. Add the chicken broth and turn up the heat so the stock starts to reduce, but not too far
6. At this point the pasta water should be boiling. Cook pasta according to the directions. When there is about 4 minutes remaining to cook the pasta, add the chopped chard to the chicken broth onion mixture. Remove the squash from the oven and discard the garlic.
7. When the chard is wilted, but not quite finished, add the tablespoon of cream, season to taste and lower the heat as necessary to reserve enough liquid for the pasta. The sauce should be thick at this point, but the pan shouldn't be dry, you want about 1/4 cup of liquid remaining.
8. Add some cheese to the sauce (maybe a tablespoon or so. Add the sqush to the mixture as well.
9. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the sauce/chard/squash mixture and toss with the sauce. Add a tiny bit of the pasta water and turn up the heat to let the pasta absorb the sauce, and the sauce to finish reducing. Add a bit more cheese to taste. Add the Parsley and bacon now. Heat for another minute or so and plate. Sprinkle with parsley or cheese or fresh ground pepper to taste.

The trick: chopping the bacon into little pieces gives you bacon in every bite, without actually adding that many calories to the dish. The touch of cream adds richness, but the small amount won't push you over the top since the sauce is mostly chicken broth. I do recommend the Wellshire Farms reduced fat bacon, I can't tell the difference, it tastes great and is only 60 calories per serving. Down right reasonable. You can also add some cannelini beans to bulk up the protein or add more vegetables and reduce the amount of pasta.

Pasta from the Pantry

Here is a quick and easy recipe, all ingredients from the pantry. This is hearty and light at the same time. The sauce comes together as the water boils, and requires minimal prep and chopping. To top it off, it is full of fiber!

Total Time: about 25 minutes
Ingredients
Dry Pasta (penne, rotini, bowties -- essentially any non-long pasta shape)
1 clove of garlic
6-8 sundried tomato halves (oil packed take a little less time, but the dried ones are better here)
1 roasted pepper, any color
1/2 cup or artichoke hearts (I use frozen, but water packed canned work fine as well)
1/3 cup of chickpeas (from canned of course)
1 Teaspoon of tomato paste
Chicken Broth (I like the carton version, easy to open and save in the fridge for quick flavor
Dried Basil to taste
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil for cooking (even spray oil works to save fat)
1 teaspoon of Olive Oil for finishing (optional)

1. Boil water for the pasta
2. Heat a medium sauce pan over low heat
3. Slice the garlic clove thinly into a few circles, sauté in oil in the sauce pan (or with cooking spray). The garlic will soften and become fragrant. Keep the heat low, we just want to create a
4. subtle base flavor
5. While the garlic sautes, chop the roasted pepper into strips. Chop the artichoke hearts into bit-sized pieces. Chop (or use kitchen shears) the sun dried tomatoes into small pieces.
6. Add 1/4-1/2 c of chicken broth to the sauce pan and add the sun dried tomatoes to reconstitute and hydrate. Turn the heat up to a low simmer (medium heat). Add the tomato paste and stir into the chicken broth. Let this simmer till the tomatoes hydrate, maybe 5 minutes or so.
7. The pasta water should be boiling at this point, salt the water add the pasta (how hungry are you? Add about 1 handful of pasta if you are trying to cut back your carbs and 2 if you are pretty hungry) and cook according to the directions on the package. You want to undercook the pasta just a bit, taking it out 2-3 minutes before it is al dente (it'll finish cooking in the sauce)
8. Take out the garlic pieces now (optional). Add the roasted peppers, chickpeas, dried basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. If the pan looks dry add more broth. Once the pasta is 2-3 minutes before being removed, add the artichoke hearts (so they don't cook too long and get too mushy).
9. Take out the pasta, and drop it in the saucepan. No need to use a strainer here, the extra water will thicken the sauce. Turn up the heat to increase the simmer. Mix the noodles around with the sauce until everything is hot, and most of the liquid is evaporated. You can also add you olive oil for finishing at this point. Check the seasoning and plate. Optional add-ons: crumbled bacon, cheese or chopped parsley.

Depending on your choice pasta, you'll end up with about 12 grams of fiber with standard pasta and 20 grams with whole wheat pasta. You'll also have 3-4 servings of veggies in this meal. Not bad for 30 minutes of work.

How to use up the chickpeas. Here are a few quick and easy ideas.

1. Sauté the beans with onions and garlic. Finish with a squirt of lemon juice and a teaspoon of nicer olive oil. Serve as a side with fish or chicken. Or mix it with some couscous for a side dish with pork chops.
2. Make some high fiber chicken curry.
3. Make hummus
4. Toss with Chimichurri sauce, cooked chicken, cherry tomatoes and steamed or sauteed swiss chard for a quick lunch -- you can do this in the microwave too, add chicken a bit of chicken broth, chopped swiss chard and the beans. Microwave about 2 minutes, till food is hot and chard is soft. Or leave out the chard, and add fresh spinach or arugula to the hot chicken and beans so it wilts slightly. Then add the tomatoes and chimichurri.
5. Toss with shrimp and a parsley caper sauce.