This is the ultimate breakfast-for-dinner dish: bacon, eggs and toast (in the form of buttery crumbs), combined with spaghetti. Comfort food to the highest degree, it’s especially satisfying after a stressful day at school or the office. And all of the ingredients, except for the bacon, are cooked in one skillet.
Most of us fry our bacon in a skillet, but I prefer to lay it out on a rack set into a rimmed and parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet and bake it in the oven. That way the bacon cooks more evenly. Also, it doesn’t curl up and make a greasy mess of the stovetop. Then again, if you insist on making this a true one-pot meal, you can cook the bacon in the skillet before adding any of the other ingredients, and substitute some of the bacon fat left in the pan for the butter in the recipe.
This recipe’s one unconventional technique is cooking the spaghetti in a skillet rather than a big pot of boiling water. Just take heart knowing that both the Spanish and Mexicans use this same technique. First, the pasta is toasted in oil in the skillet. Then the liquid is added and the pasta is simmered until it is al dente. Why bother with this method? Because the pasta picks up more flavor this way.
You add the eggs when the pasta is just about finished. They need to be cooked over medium-low heat, stirred constantly, and pulled off the heat the minute they’re done so they don’t overcook and get tough. The breadcrumbs are the finishing touch; half are mixed into the pasta and eggs, half are sprinkled on top. If you can’t resist the temptation to add some cheese, you can always substitute some Parmesan for the crumbs.
Once you try cooking pasta this way, I’ll bet you invent all sorts of variations to add to your line-up of weeknight dinners.
BREAKFAST-FOR-DINNER SPAGHETTI
Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes (40 minutes active)
Servings: 6
8 ounces bacon
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (made by pulsing homemade-style white bread in a food processor; need about 4 slices)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 cups thinly sliced yellow onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
12 ounces spaghetti, broken in half
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
6 large eggs, lightly beaten with tablespoon of water and pinch of salt
Nutrition information per serving: 590 calories; 280 calories from fat (47 percent of total calories); 31 g fat (13 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 265 mg cholesterol; 670 mg sodium; 57 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 21 g protein.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.