BLT Spaghetti with Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic Bread Crumbs

Oh My... This is an incredible recipe.  Inspired from a published recipe in "Cuisine at Home" (a new magazine the sent me a free copy).  They sent me a freebie, so I really wanted to give one of their recipes a try.  So glad I picked this one...


Of course, the phrase that caught my eye was, "caramelized cherry tomatoes'.  Now that is a glorious sounding ingredient.  But it gets better, not just caramelized, they are caramelized in the bacon drippings.  This has more layers of flavors than you can shake a stick at...


So let's start shaking...


First, let's make garlic bread crumbs...


3 cloves Garlic
1 cup fresh made Bread Crumbs
1 tsp Olive Oil

Bread crumbs, they are easy to make... Just take a couple of slices of bread, pop in the Cuisinart or mini chopper and viola... crumbs.  And while you have the chopper out, mince up the garlic, put them in a sauté pan with the olive oil over medium heat and in 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally... Garlic Bread Crumbs!


Set aside while you make the BLT part of the recipe...


4 strip Bacon, save the drippings, crumble the bacon
1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 cup thinly sliced Sweet Onions (Vidalia if possible)
1/4 cup dry White Wine
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
4 ounces Spaghetti
1 cup Spinach Leaves
1 TBS mixed Italian Herbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook the Bacon in a large non-stick pan.  


You are going to use this pan for the rest of the recipe, so don't be cheap on the size.  


When cooked, remove the bacon and allow to cool on a paper towel lined plate.


Discard all but 1 TBS of the drippings.

And now it's time to caramelize the tomatoes!  doesn't that sound like a beautiful thing... Say it out loud...


Caramelized tomatoes!


And, it's easy to do.  Add the tomatoes to the bacon drippings, add the tomatoes, sprinkle the sugar on top and sauté for about 5 minutes.  Do that TV chef thing and flip them in the pan several times so they get an equal opportunity to the bottom of the pan and are well coated in the bacon/sugar!  


At the end of 5 minutes, you will see the tomatoes start to brown.  Now, add the onions and sauté for another 5 minutes.


And now, you are close to done.  Time to start cooking the spaghetti.  Takes about 5 minutes to get the spaghetti al dente, just a little snappy!

And now, time to really richen this dish up!


De-glaze the pan with the white wine.  Make sure all that good caramelized goo on the bottom gets well mixed with the wine.  Continue simmering till the wine is reduced by half.  Then add the vinegar and chicken stock and again stir and simmer till the liquid is again reduced by half.

Remove from the heat...


Add the spaghetti and mix well...


Add the herbs and mix well.  Whatever you have fresh, oregano, thyme, rosemary, even dill or parsley.


Add the spinach and mix well.  Work quick now, as you do not want the spinach cooked, just warming...


Plate this, top with the crumbled bacon, bread crumbs and cheese...

The whole thing only took about 45 minutes to make.  The recipe I gave made 2 servings, but I could have eaten three times as much... So very very good!


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