Don’t you just love playing around with things you have in the fridge and come out with something totally unique AND delicious?  At least, I believe this is unique. I haven’t seen it around.

It’s a cross between a Bacon & Spinach Salad / Pasta Carbonara. But instead of the egg tempered into the Carbonara sauce, it’s a fried egg on top, with hot bacon dressing. Did I really, really dare? I did.

I didn’t have any Parmesan cheese for this, but I had Feta. Plus, Feta goes well with spinach leaves. So everything works out once again.

It’s one of those things you whip up when you have a craving for: bacon, eggs and pasta. Put it all together and mix it up, just like a 4 year old would.

Spinach & Bacon Pasta – with sliced tomatoes, feta cheese, fried egg and hot bacon dressing drizzled on top (serves 2-4)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. of cooked pasta
• 6 cups spinach leaves, blanched and drained
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 2 to 4 eggs, fried sunny side up
• 8 slices bacon, chopped and cooked (save the fat)
• feta or parmesan cheese
• chopped parsley (optional)

Dressing:

• bacon fat, reserved
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp. water

* number of eggs dependent on how many plates you’re serving

Directions:

Cook the pasta ahead of time, and fried eggs ahead of time.

Blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for 2 minutes, then take out and drain.  Mine weren’t blanched and released too much water later in the dish. Learn from my mistakes.

Whisk sugar, vinegar, water and salt together in a bowl. Set aside for dressing later.

After you cook the chopped bacon, transfer it onto a plate with a slotted spoon.

Reserving the bacon fat in the skillet, add the ingredients for dressing and stir together on Medium heat.

In a large bowl, add pasta, spinach, tomatoes and bacon.

Pour bacon dressing over everything. Mix together with tongs.

Top with fried egg, feta cheese. Sprinkle parsley bits (optional).

It sure looks like a giant mess. But I LOVED IT. It tasted so delicious. This is what happens when you stop yourself from buying REAL bacon for years and finally have the real thing. You want to savor it.