The dinner dreams of my life! Seriously, this has to be one of my all time favorite dinners. It’s got it all. Cheesy Bacon Penne Sweet Corn Carbonara Bowls are demanding my attention right about NOW. And really, how can you go wrong with pasta, cheese, and bacon — you know, that kind of basic fantasy.
The truth is, I spent the end of last week sick to my stomach! Nothing sounded good at all. I had the stomach flu. I’m trying to tip-toe around the specifics, but I wasn’t holding anything down if you get my drift. It took me back to sick days at home with my mom and her cooking up a batch of chicken and dumplings just as soon as I felt better. This time, however, it took a full 4 days to get my appetite back. I’m not complaining, because we are all just one good flu away from a kick-start to a new diet.
But, when my appetite came back, all I wanted was carb-y-comfort-food. This recipe is one of my absolute favorites. I’ve talked about it before, but there is a feeling I get when I put chopped onions into a sizzling pan of bacon. It just smells so good. Like the smell of heaven. I’ve never been but I would wager that heaven smells like coming home to dinner in the oven.
I can already tell this week is going to be crazy. I’ve got so much to catch up on between work, home, doctor’s appointments, and the blog. It’s going to take a lot of coffee and a few motivational speeches.
“You’re good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
Some weeks, I just need a clone of myself, you feel me? Someone to make me coffee in the morning, make the dinner in the evening, and make sure that I’m breathing. My goal this week is to push really hard Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and get ahead so that this feeling that the world is closing in will subside. I am the opposite of a procrastinator. I LOVE getting ahead so that my mind can be clear and I can leave the worrying to more important things. Like worrying that watching the Law and Order Manendez Brothers will give me nightmares. Seriously, they haunt my dreams. So young, so beautiful, so sinister.
All right, before this gets too silly, I’m going to leave you with a few pictures and a bomb recipe for this penne pasta bake. Seriously creamy, comforting, and light work for your Monday night dinner. I mean, you can leave out the cheese topping for a fewer calorie situation, but some nights just need cheese. They need cheese and a motivational speech and the comfort of knowing (spoiler alert) that the Manedez brothers are in jail a cool 1038.4 miles away.
Cheesy Bacon Penne Sweet Corn Carbonara Bowls
This recipe for Cheesy Bacon Penne Sweet Corn Carbonara Bowls is my favorite recipe for my kind of at-home cooking comfort food.
Ingredients
2 cups uncooked penne pasta
5 strips bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups corn
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 cup cream
1 egg
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
|| Cheese Topping ||
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
olive oil
Instructions
Cook penne pasta according to package directions.
Cut bacon into small strips and place in a medium/high skillet stirring constantly until crispy. Add the chopped onions, salt, and pepper and cook until the onions are transparent. Add the corn, halved cherry tomatoes, and fresh thyme, and stir together. Add the cooked and drained penne pasta, and turn the heat down to low.
In a small bowl, whisk the cream and egg together, and pour over the pasta. Sprinkle in the 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Continue to stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens.
Pour pasta into 4 oven safe bowls, top evenly with cheddar and parmesan cheese, and drizzle with olive oil. Place under the broiler on low until melted.
Serve immediately.
