Homemade pesto pasta with bacon is so tasty, I always go back for seconds. I make my own pesto with fresh basil which really gives it the full flavour. I advise making your own homemade pesto rather than store bought, unless it is the fresh store-bought kind. I usually buy a basil plant this time of year in summer and even though they don’t always grow back, it still ends up saving money. Reason being, the plant only costs around 2.50 or so in the supermarket, whereas the packet costs the same but has less in it and needs to be used up immediately. It is handy to have the plant in my kitchen window as I use basil often as a garnish. I always have pesto in mind when it comes to buying the basil plant because I just love it so much!

When making my homemade pesto pasta with bacon, I always put in a little extra garlic. I love the garlic taste in my pasta and when you cook the pesto it can lose some of that garlic flavour. That is why I add in my extra garlic, so that it still has that distinct garlic taste after it has been in the frying pan. So instead of using one clove of garlic I will use one and a half medium or else 2 small cloves. You will probably have some pesto leftover from the pasta dish so keep it in an airtight container in the fridge and you can have it with bread or as a dip after. It lasts for around 5 days to a week.

I hope you enjoy this homemade pesto pasta with bacon as much as we do! It is so tasty and filling. Save the recipe and don’t forget to give me a rating if you love it! Cheers 🙂

5 from 1 vote

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Homemade Pesto Pasta with Bacon

Tasty homemade pesto with cream, pasta and bacon. This deliciously creamy and flavourful pasta is simple to make and tastes divine!

Keyword homemade pesto pasta

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch fresh basil leaves chopped
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 sml/medium garlic cloves chopped
• 4 tbsp parmesan grated
• 1 small packet of lardons/4 slices of bacon chopped
• 1/2 large onion chopped
• 2 servings pasta
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 dash salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup pouring cream full fat

Instructions

1. Using a blender, add in the basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic and parmesan. Pulse until the mixture is smooth and green.

2. Remove the pesto and transfer into a bowl. Set aside. Boil water for the pasta.

3. Put your pasta in the pot of boiling water with a dash of salt and olive oil. Cook as per instructions on the packet. Usually around 10 minutes so wait 5 minutes to begin the rest.

4. While the pasta is cooking, add a tsp of olive oil to the frying pan and heat on low-medium. Add your onions and cook for a minute or so. Then add in the bacon.

5. Cook the onions and bacon until fragrant, then add in some pesto. Depending on your taste, use as much as you like but I used less than half of my pesto.

6. Turn the heat down to simmer and mix the pesto around a bit. Quickly after the pesto is added, gently pour in the cream.

7. Mix it all together and taste. You can decide if you want to add more pesto or cream depending on your own taste. Remove from the heat.

8. Strain the pasta once it is al dente (as they say in Italy!) by testing it. Once that is done, strain the pasta.

9. Pour the pasta into the frying pan and mix it all together. You want to coat all the pasta. If you have added too much pasta you can always throw on a bit more pesto.

10. Done! Ready to serve immediately. I like to heat my plates before serving so that it helps keep the pasta warm while you eat. 

11. Enjoy!