Crock Pot Irish Stew and Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This savory, slow-cooked traditional Irish stew accompanied by a crusty Irish soda bread makes for a delicious way to observe the feast day honoring the life of Saint Patrick.

While there are countless recipes for Irish Stew, many of them resembled my regular beef stew recipe: meat, carrots, potatoes, broth, spices. For this St. Patty's day I decided to go for more traditional Irish "peasant" feel and use lamb. I once read that back in the days of St. Patrick that only the rich could afford to raise/purchase beef.

We raised sheep on our farm when I was growing up, and it's fair to say that I ate enough lamb to counter any cravings that I would have later in life. Still, I've seen so many great lamb recipes out there lately that I decided to re-visit lamb for this stew. I ordered a lamb shoulder roast from the butcher at my local supermarket and picked it up a couple of days later. The package said that the lamb was "free range".

Well, well, well. Now we've struck a nerve in my little Irish temper. Here's the deal: I've never seen a lamb that wasn't free range. They don't fare well on feed lots. From americanlamb.com: "American Lambs are raised on natural grasses in lush pastures across the country and are free of artificial growth hormones. Most lamb produced east of the Mississippi River is not grain fed, because producers have access to high-quality natural resources. Some western American Lambs are big enough right off the range, but most lamb produced west of the Mississippi River is finished on a high quality diet of corn and alfalfa. The grain finishing creates a consistent and delicious flavor that American consumers prefer."

I suspect that labelling lamb as "free range" is much like labelling chicken as "hormone free" to give the product a marketing edge. What am I talking about? Well, we ALL eat hormone free chicken here in the U.S. Did you know that USDA regulations prohibit poultry growers from giving hormones and steroids to their birds, so all chicken is hormone-free?

So yeah, when you read labels boasting "hormone free" or "steroid free" there IS truth in the advertising...but only because they are just following the law, not because they are doing anything that sets them apart from other growers.

Okay, sorry for the mini-rant. I should clarify before I continue, I don't fault anyone for trying to better market their product to increase sales. More power to them! I just wanted ya'll to know. : ) Sometimes I start typing about things like stew and bread and my fingers take over and do a little free association de-bunking. : )

So back to this fancy free-range lamb. All $14 worth. So much for "peasant" pricing...

I cut the roast into pieces and sprinkled with a little sea salt to begin.

I heated a little oil in my skillet to brown the lamb. You just want to get the meat a nice brown color on the outside for flavor, you're not actually trying to cook the meat.

Then chop up potatoes and carrots and onions and season with salt and other spices and place everything in the bottom of your crock pot.

Place the browned lamb over the veggies and then pour on some broth.

Cook on LOW for 8 hours or until the meat is fall apart tender. At this point it was really late at night and I stopped taking pictures. I removed the lamb and separated the incredibly tender meat from fat and bone before shredding it and returning it to the stew. Then I put the crock pot into the fridge overnight. A couple of hours before dinner, I brought the crock pot out of the fridge and removed the layer of fat that had formed on top. Then I re-heated the crock pot until the stew was simmering.

Once the stew was bubbling away, I stirred in a cup of peas (barley would be good here too) because 1. I have an abundance of peas in my freezer and 2. I thought that a St. Patrick's Day stew should have something green in it.

Mix 6 tablespoons of flour into 1/2 cup of cold water and stir the slurry into the stew to thicken it up. Then cover and cook for another 20 minutes or until you are ready to eat.

This really did make a lovely stew. It was delicious, but I have to be truthful; as I scooped bites of the stew into my mouth, I found myself wishing that I'd used beef instead. The lamb did lend itself to an incredibly tender protein, but I'm still partial to beef. Maybe the amount of lamb consumed in my formative years has scarred me for life? Probably not. I did have an amazing rack of lamb on my honeymoon, so I haven't completely written it off. I may just stick to dry preparation methods from here on out. For the record, our daughters loved this. My oldest kept sopping it up with her soda bread, exclaiming, "Mom, this gravy is SO good!" Of course, I didn't mention that "the gravy" was actually lamb stew.

The perfect pair for the stew was Irish Soda Bread. I found the recipe on a website titled, "Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread". The author of this site had some definite opinions on what should qualify as "traditional". Maybe they inspired my free-range lamb rant? Anyway, here are some excerpts from the site, found HERE.

"If your "soda bread" has raisins, it's not "soda bread! It's called "Spotted Dog" or "Railway Cake"! If it contains raisins, eggs, baking powder, sugar or shortening, it's called "cake", not "bread." All are tasty, but not traditional Irish Soda Bread!"

"If one searches the internet using the term "Traditional Irish Soda Bread" about 63,500 sites are listed. 98% of them aren't even close to being traditional. Google "Irish Soda Bread" and you will find 126,000 sites.

Would "French Bread" (15th century) still be "French Bread" if whiskey, raisins, or other random ingredients were added to the mix? Would Jewish Matzo (unleavened bread) used to remember the passage of the Israelites out of Egypt still be Matzo if we add raisins, butter, sugar, eggs, and even orange zest? So why is traditional "Irish Soda Bread" (19th century) turned into a dessert and labeled "Traditional Irish Soda Bread?" OK, maybe you don't like the analogy, but you get the point!"

"The basic soda bread is made with flour, baking soda, salt, and soured milk (or buttermilk). That's it!"

There is quite a bit of additional information supporting the author's claims about "traditional" Irish soda bread on the site. I encourage you to check out The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread to read more!

Truthfully, I just liked this approach to soda bread because it was easy to prepare and I knew that my family would probably reject the versions containing raisins and caraway seeds. Plus, I thought that the crusty white bread would be awesome for sopping the stew.

Here's how it came together:

First sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Then pour in buttermilk. Stir until you form a soft dough.

Then turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly knead. Only knead long enough that the dough absorbs a bit more flour and will hold it's shape. Too much kneading will cause the "gas" to escape and makes for a tougher loaf of bread.

Pat the dough into a round shape and drop it into a lightly greased and floured round cake pan. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross shape onto the top.

Top with another pan and bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Then, remove the top pan and bake for another 15 minutes.

Truth be told, I baked mine a couple of minutes too long. I heard the timer go off, but continued typing an article I was working on. A few minutes later, I snapped back to reality and dashed across the kitchen just in time to rescue the bread. Whew!

We loved, loved, LOVED this bread. I'll definitely be making it again and I won't wait for next St. Patty's Day to do so. This recipe made for a nice, crusty bread with a dense, tender crumb that was ideal for soaking up the stew, but is also good on it's own with butter or honey.

One last shot of our "traditional" Irish meal.

Slow-Cooker Irish Stew

2 lb. lamb shoulder roast - cut into 4 or 5 pieces
2 chopped onions
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 medium potatoes - peeled and cubed
1-2 tbsps. oil
6 c. beef broth
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. crushed rosemary
1/4 tsp. celery seed or a teaspoon of celery salt
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/8 tsp. crushed dry thyme
1 cup peas, thawed
6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cold water
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley for garnish

Brown meat in shortening in a large skillet, over medium-high to high heat. Don't cook the meat; just get it brown.Combine browned meat in Crock-Pot with onion, broth, potato, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic, celery seed, marjoram, thyme and carrot.

Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until meat is fall apart tender and potatoes are done. Remove the meat and cut up or shred. Return to crock pot. If possible, refrigerate the stew overnight. Skim fat and return the stew to a simmer.

Dissolve flour in 1/2 c. cold water and add to Crock-Pot with the peas. Cover Crock-Pot, turn to high and cook 15 to 20 minutes until the stew is thickened.

Serve with Irish Soda Bread.

Notes: I read someplace that garlic and rosemary are not traditional Irish flavors. I added them anyway because when preparing lamb, I can't resist adding garlic and rosemary. It's just habit.

Also, this recipe would make a wonderful BEEF stew. Just substitute the same amount of beef roast and follow the recipe above.


White Soda Bread from Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread

4 cups (16 oz) of all purpose flour.
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
14 oz of buttermilk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly crease and flour a cake pan.

In a large bowl sieve and combine all the dry ingredients.

Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)

Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot). Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped so show it is done.

Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.

I hope that you all enjoy the holiday!

White Bean Fennel Soup

This light and healthy fennel soup was absolutely delicious. It's packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber and was a huge hit alongside our grilled cheese sandwiches at dinner tonight. My kids even loved it!

I found this fennel bulb labelled as anise in my local supermarket's produce section. Since I have never purchased or cooked with fennel before, I was hesitant to pick it up. It looked like what I was looking for, but it said, "Anise" not "Fennel". This was definitely a produce dilemma. I needed guidance. I tracked down a young man working in the department and politely waited for him to conclude the conversation he was having with a co-worker. After a period of time that I would describe as awkward, I finally cleared my throat "Ahem" and asked if they had any fennel. He promptly led me to the stuff labelled, "Anise". Ah-ha! Just as I suspected! "But it SAYS anise," I pointed out. You know, just in case he didn't notice the improperly placed sign. He just shrugged and replied, "It's the same thing." Now go away lady, I want to get back to flirting with this cute cashier...

His answer wasn't good enough for me. Anise? Like the stuff they make black licorice out of?! No way was I making soup with that! I despise black licorice...although, surprisingly I don't mind those cookies with the anise seed that we get around Christmas-time. Still, I couldn't imagine that flavor in this soup recipe. Good ol' Google. I checked it out.

On a site called "The World's Healthiest Foods" I found this information:

"Although they share a similar taste profile—reminiscent of black licorice—fennel and anise are two different plants. The botanical name of anise is Pimpinella anisum while the botanical name of fennel is Foeniculum vulgare. Both anise and fennel belong to the Apiaceae family.

In addition to the fact that they share a similar flavor, what often creates confusion among these two plants/foods is that fennel is often referred to as anise. Since the whole plant (bulb, stalks, fronds) of fennel is consumed while it is usually just the seeds from the anise plant that are eaten, if you see a vegetable-like plant called "anise," chances are that it is actually fennel."

"The Gilded Fork" confirmed the claims of "The World's Healthiest Foods" stating, "In fact, many American supermarkets mislabel fennel as “anise”, perhaps because both have at their base the aromatic compound anethole (also found in chinese star anise)."

Here is a picture of the FENNEL that I used.

As directed by the recipe, I thinly sliced it. It did smell slightly like anise, but luckily the taste was super subtle- not like black licorice at all.

I sauteed the fennel with a chopped onion in olive oil until both were tender.

Then I stirred in the spices, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of butter beans (the recipe called for white kidney or cannellini, but I had butter beans, so I improvised), and chicken broth. Bring the soup to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

To finish, stir in 3 cups of chopped baby spinach and cook a few minutes longer until the spinach wilts.

Salt and pepper to taste and serve! This really is a simple and delicious vegetable soup. We ate ours with grilled cheese sandwiches, but it would also be great with a nice, rustic bread.

Here's the recipe from the February/March 2003 edition of Light and Tasty magazine:

White Bean Fennel Soup adapted slightly by me

1 large onion, chopped
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 can (15 ounces) white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces)Diced Italian Tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
Directions
•In a large saucepan, saute onion and fennel in oil until tender. Add
the broth, beans, tomatoes, thyme, pepper and bay leaf; bring to a
boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until fennel
is tender.
•Discard bay leaf. Add spinach; cook 3-4 minutes longer or until
spinach is wilted. Yield: 5 servings.

Nutrition Facts: One serving (1-1/2 cups) equals 152 calories, 3 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 976 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 8 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable,

Meal Plan and Grocery List 3/14- 3/20

Hello everyone!  I'm back this week with the meal plan AND grocery list. Hooray! For the next couple of weeks, it's smooth sailing...nothing crazy in our schedule...well, nothing crazier than usual. I'm looking forward to the menu this week...and the menu next week too! But I'm getting ahead of myself, I will post that next Sunday.

There are a couple of sites that I want to share before I post the meal plan. First, a handy little savings site I just found called Grocery Server. First off, it's free. BONUS! I refuse to pay for coupon sites...what's the point? Here's what it does: you just type in your grocery list and the site shows you what is on sale in YOUR TOWN on the list, where you can find the sale, AND provides coupons if they are available. I tried it out and my conclusion: It's pretty handy! Check it out at www.groceryserver.com

The next site I want to share is an online community forum, "Mom's the Word on Dinner". This one I haven't tried out yet, but it sounds pretty cool. I seem to be in an ongoing conversation with other moms, both in my circle of friends and when I'm out teaching, about getting our children to eat healthier. This forum sounds like a good source for dealing with this dilemma.

Here's an excerpt from the email I received from Mom Select regarding the forum:

Ragú® is launching "Mom's the Word on Dinner," an online community for moms to laugh, learn and share their take on what really happens at dinnertime.

Ragú® is teaming up with some familiar faces, including some of the fabulous ladies of Momversation™, to bring moms together to share stories and tips, celebrate the small wins and laugh about situations that only other moms can relate to. Each month, this online community will be tackling topics from how to deal with picky eaters, to getting them to eat their veggies to what's being discussed at the dinner table, with some tips from parenting expert and author, Dr. Michele Borba, and Registered Dietician, Dr. Felicia Stoler.

It's definitely worth a look. I figure that the folks at Ragu must know a little about nutrition since they've figured out how to pack 2 full servings of veggies into just 1/2 cup of their delicious Old World Style Traditional pasta sauce!  Check it out HERE on Facebook.

Finally, a few links to recipes here on Krista's Kitchen to those of you observing Meatless Fridays during the season of Lent. Check out the Meatless Meals and Seafood labels in my sidebar for dinner ideas.

Okay that's enough housekeeping, now for the meal plan! Oh wait, one more note: For a printable copy of the meal plan and grocery list, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the provided link.

Monday March 14th

White Bean Fennel Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday March 15th

Taco Salad

Wednesday March 16th

Leftovers

Thursday March 17th

Crock Pot Irish Stew
White Soda Bread

Friday March 18th

Veggie Skillet Lasagna

Saturday March 19th

Bacon Cheddar Meatloaves with Oven Baked Onion Rings

Sunday March 20th

Leftovers again!

Grocery List

Produce

3 onions
1 large sweet onion
1 fennel bulb, also called anise
baby spinach (6-7 cups)
1 head of lettuce
4-5 tomatoes
green onions
carrots
potatoes
garlic
basil
zucchini

Dairy

Shredded cheddar
sour cream (I use reduced fat)
buttermilk
ricotta
eggs
fresh mozzarella
Parmesan

Meat

2 lbs. lean ground beef
1-1/2 to 2 lbs lamb shoulder roast
bacon

Canned Goods

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1- 15 oz. can white beans
1-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
oil, olive or canola
sliced black olives
light red kidney beans
salsa
4 cups beef broth

Dry Goods

thyme
bay leaf
Doritos or other nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips, baked or regular
1 package taco seasoning
celery seed
marjoram
flour
baking soda
no-bake lasagna noodles
butter crackers
bread crumbs

Freezer

Peas - if you like them- for the stew.
 For a printable version of this meal plan and grocery list click HERE.
 
Happy Cooking, everyone!

Broccoli Pesto Pizza

Sometime ago I saw a recipe for broccoli pesto. Though I'd never tried it, I was so taken with the idea that I even mentioned it to a group of moms when presenting ways to integrate healthy foods into the diets of young children at a recent speaking engagement. Sure, some kids will shy away from "all things green", but I find that when green stuff (like pesto) tastes really good, my kiddos will gobble it up with little protest. I filed the idea for pesto made with broccoli away in the back of my mind.

Fast forward to last week when I found some lovely heads of reasonably-priced broccoli at my local market. I was thinking of making the broccoli into a stir fry or a nice side dish. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately since this was so yummy), tonight I was running low on supplies. Grocery day is tomorrow. I'm "scraping the bottom of the barrel" here. After a careful inventory of my fridge and pantry I realized that I DID have 1) a refrigerated pizza crust 2) olive oil 3) garlic 4) a block of Parmesan cheese 5) pine nuts and 6) shredded mozzarella. Ah-ha (the light bulb went on). Time to make broccoli pesto and put it on a pizza! I wasn't sure how the pesto would turn out, but I knew that my family would eat pizza.

My family always enjoys traditional basil pesto so I assumed that a pesto pizza was a safe bet.  I haven't made pesto since August, though.  Basil is so darn expensive right now! This summer I plan to grow my own.  Wanna see my herb garden?  It's in the picture below....

What, you can't find it? Well maybe that's because my herb-garden-to-be is under a fresh blanket of snow!

Yep. It's March and we had ANOTHER snow storm last night. Lovely.

I snapped this picture of our backyard just before making dinner tonight.

C'mon Spring!!!

And so new my healthier and less expensive answer to basil pesto in early March is to use nutrient and fiber rich broccoli.

I broke the heads into pieces and steamed them until tender (about 5 minutes).

Then, because my food processor went missing during our move, I employed my Pampered Chef chopper to mince the steamed broccoli.

While I was preparing the broccoli, I popped some pine nuts into the oven for toasting. You want to toast em' until fragrant. Not until blackened....

My suggestion is to watch your pine nuts carefully during this step. This is not the first time that I have  burned a batch of pine nuts. For the record, this batch went into the trash and I had to start over. I toast mine on a baking sheet at around 200 degrees. I recommend that you stir occasionally and check frequently until they start to lightly brown and are fragrant...at which point,  get them outta there!

*Toasting can also be accomplished in a skillet on your stovetop.

Once the second batch of pine nuts were toasted and slightly cooled, I added them to the broccoli with the grated Parmesan, minced garlic, salt, and a little dried basil.

Then I attacked the mixture with my immersion blender. You could do all of this in your food processor or blender too. I just blended until the ingredients were all most smooth and combined. You don't want any whole pine nuts floatin' around in there.... 

Finally,  I blended in 1/2 cup of olive oil.

I ended up with a relatively light-colored (probably from all of the cheese that I added), thick (I could've added more oil, but I was out) pesto.

This made enough pesto for a couple of recipes, so I put away half to toss with pasta for dinner next week.

With the pesto made, I went to work on the pizza. I used a refrigerated crust. I really like Pillsbury's Thin Crust Pizza when I don't have the time to make my own, because it can be easily pressed into a baking sheet. I oiled the sheet and sprinkled it with cornmeal before  pre-baking the crust for the recommended 5 minutes before removing from the oven and spreading with 1 cup of the pesto mixture.

Then I topped the pizza with shredded cheese, halved grape tomatoes, and 1 thinly sliced shallot. I decided to keep the toppings simple to allow the flavor of the pesto to shine through.

Bake the pizza for another 6-10 minutes before removing it from the oven and slicing.

Enjoy!

Krista's Broccoli Pesto Pizza

For the pesto:

2 heads fresh broccoli broken up and steamed or 1-3/4 to 2 cups frozen broccoli, cooked
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste

For the pizza:

1 refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 shallot, thinly sliced or 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

To make pesto:

Break up and steam broccoli. Finely chop. Toast pine nuts on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven until golden and fragrant. Combine chopped broccoli, cheese, toasted pine nuts, minced garlic, dried basil, and salt until somewhat smooth and blended in food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender. Slowly add in olive oil and blend again until creamy.

To make the pizza:

Prebake crust as directed. Spread with 1 cup of pesto. Top with cheese, tomatoes and shallot (or onion). Bake as directed or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Notes:
*This was delicious! Just a hint of the broccoli taste could be detected, which was fine with us because we like broccoli.

* Refrigerate remaining pesto for use in another recipe.

* This would have been even better with fresh mozzarella slices instead of shredded mozzarella.

* I grated my own Parmesan cheese, but the "stuff" in the green can would work fine too.

* This is a versatile pizza. Top it however you like. Next time I will sprinkle some fresh basil over the top to enhance the taste and appearance.

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Bacon Vodka Sauce

This recipe was born out of my inability to choose between a Penne in Vodka Sauce recipe seen in the most recent issue of Food Network Magazine and Giada's Bucatini All'Amatriciana with Spicy Fontina Meatballs that I found on Kim's blog, Stirring the Pot. Indecision is the mother of invention? Rather than make each recipe separately, I decided to combine the two, keeping the ingredients that most attracted me to each recipe and also utilizing the ingredients that I already had in my kitchen. For example, the Buccatini All'Amatriciana called for pancetta. I used bacon. The vodka sauce didn't call for shallots, but the Buccatini recipe did.... so in went the shallots. I already had meatballs in my freezer, so I didn't make the Spicy Fontina Meatballs. (Although they do look amazing!) There were other changes too but the point is, I just smooshed the two recipes together and the result was delicious! It was a wonderful twist on our usual dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.

I began by frying 3 slices of bacon.

After removing the bacon to paper towels, add the onion and shallot to the bacon drippings and cook until softened. Then stir in a couple cloves of minced garlic and some red pepper flakes. Cook a little longer until fragrant.

Add in meatballs (I added 16, allowing 4 for each member of my family) and the crumbled bacon. Cook and stir until the meatballs warm up a bit.

If you'd like to make your own meatballs, THESE Spicy Fontina Meatballs from Stirring the Pot look pretty amazing OR check out THESE super easy meatballs OR try out my go-to meatball recipe found HERE. Of course, if you're pressed for time, just grab a bag from the freezer section at your local supermarket.

Next I added a can of crushed tomatoes and 1/2 cup of vodka (I used a diluted vodka). I was curious about what the vodka actually does for the sauce, so I did a little online research. I found similar answers on a couple of sites that was most clearly stated HERE in the Q&A section of Food and Wine in the New York Times:

"The alcohol in the vodka enhances the flavor of the tomatoes. Some flavors are alcohol-soluble, meaning that they will be released only by the addition of alcohol. Vodka can help bring out these flavors without contributing another flavor, as wine or brandy would.

So a tomato sauce made with a touch of vodka can be slightly more intense than one made without. This is a particular boon if you are using less than perfectly ripe, late-summer tomatoes, which may need that flavor boost."

Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally for 7-10 minutes.

Then stir in 2/3 cup of cream and cook a little longer, until thickened.

While the sauce thickened up, I grated a chunk of parmesan. Both recipes called for 1/2 cup of grated cheese. I may have used just a little more.

Finally, stir in the cheese and a handful of torn basil. Salt and pepper the sauce to suit your taste before tossing with 12-16 oz. of cooked spaghetti.

Sprinkle with more cheese and basil...if that makes you happy.
                                                       : )

Spaghetti and Meatballs in Bacon Vodka Sauce

Ingredients
Kosher salt
12-16 oz pasta
16-24 meatballs, thawed if frozen
3-6 slices bacon
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1-2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup vodka
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn, plus more for topping

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Drain the pasta.

Fry bacon until crisp in a large skillet. Remove to paper towels. Add the onion and shallots to the bacon drippings in the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, a minute more or until fragrant. Crumble the bacon into the skillet over the onions and add the meatballs, cooking until the meatballs are warmed. Stir in the vodka, tomatoes and salt to taste. Return the skillet to medium heat and simmer, stirring often, until the alcohol cooks off, 7-10 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in the parmesan and basil.

Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to combine. Season with salt. Serve topped with more parmesan and basil.

Notes:
*I only used 3 slices of bacon to prepare this recipe, but I really enjoyed the bacon in this dish. Next time I would add more. If you choose to add more bacon, you may need to drain off some of the fat before adding in the onions.
**I used half and half instead heavy cream in this recipe- my sad little attempt to lighten it up since I added in bacon and meatballs.

Enjoy!