CREM FRISH PASTA RECIPE

okay to get started with this pasta dish

I am going to start off by cooking 12

ounces of thick-cut chopped bacon so

here I have a pan preheating and I am

just going to add my bacon right into

the pan and I'm just going to start

sauteing it and breaking it apart

basically what I want to do is cook this

at a medium to medium-high heat not

necessarily high because I don't want to

burn it or sear it I want to actually

render out a lot of that bacon fat so

once my bacon is broken apart and starts

to saute eventually it will crisp up but

I do want to render some bacon fat now

depending on how high you have your heat

that will determine the cook time but

I'm using again a medium heat and this

is going to go through stages it'll look

like this where it's broken apart and it

looks still raw it's not crispy or

golden brown but keep going and

eventually you will have this crispy

bacon pieces okay so I'm turning off the

heat and now I'm going to remove this

from my pan and I am going to place all

of my bacon pieces on a plate lined with

paper towels and this will help soak up

any residual grease from the bacon and

it'll help maintain its texture while it

sits until I need it once I'm done

removing all of my bacon I am going to

save all of that rendered bacon fat I'm

actually going to be using two

tablespoons of this when I start my

cheese sauce but saved or rendered bacon

fat goes well in other recipes once I've

removed all of the bacon grease I am

going to wipe out any debris left from

the bacon because I don't want that to

burn when I start sauteing things

okay so at this point my pan is wiped

clean and I'm going to start preheating

it again and now I'm going to add two

tablespoons of that rendered bacon fat

now if you are not going to use bacon in

this recipe or you just want to opt not

to use bacon because you don't eat it or

you don't have it you don't have to use

two tablespoons of bacon grease to start

your cheese sauce you can definitely use

the oil of your choice or sometimes I

like to use butter when I'm not adding

bacon to this I'll use two tablespoons

of butter so those are options for those

that do not want to use bacon in this

recipe because it really is a delicious

cheese sauce so now I'm adding three

tablespoons of finely minced onion and

that goes right into my preheated bacon

grease I'm going to give that a mix and

now I'm going to add two chopped cloves

of garlic now if you don't have fresh

garlic or onion or you just don't like

it you could also opt to use granulated

onion and garlic powder

probably a half teaspoon of onion powder

and a quarter teaspoon of garlic or

change the ratios to your preference so

now that this is sauteing I am just

going to give it a mix and again I'm not

working with a high heat I'm working

with a medium heat and I'm going to add

just a pinch of salt this will help

sweat out the onion and garlic and just

kind of help the saute along by the way

I am NOT adding any extra salt in this

recipe because with the bacon and the

two cheeses that I will be using I find

that that is enough salt in this recipe

and I'm also going to salt well my pasta

water when I boil the pasta but

definitely you want to salt and season

this to your preference because when you

are cooking for yourself trust me I know

all too well when I make a recipe and I

want to add a little bit of this and

that because it's what I like so by all

means definitely salt and season this

cheese sauce to your preference okay so

this has sauteed for several minutes it

already has a little bit of golden brown

color on it so now I am going to add the

dairy of my choice and for those of you

that follow me know that I like to use

evaporated milk in my cheese sauces so

I'm going to be

three cans of evaporated milk in total

that will be around 36 ounces now if you

do not have evaporated milk readily

available to you you could also use

heavy cream or you can do a mixture of

heavy cream and whole milk but I do not

suggest just using whole milk because I

find that whole milk will not thicken

and be too watery when it's all said and

done so just be mindful of that if you

are going to use something other than

evaporated milk make sure you use

something like half-and-half or for

those of you that cannot find

half-and-half it's basically half heavy

cream half whole milk so I'm just going

to give everything a stir and I'm going

to bring this to a gentle simmer again

I'm working with a medium heat and I

want this to heat through before I start

adding my cheese now before I add my

cheese I'm going to add some freshly

grated nutmeg I like to add nutmeg to my

cheese sauces but this is optional you

can opt not to do this but if you do

have some whole nutmeg just give it a

couple scrapes on your grater because it

does pair well with the cheese sauce but

again it's optional