twenty-four

As I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, I don't much care for a plain old salad for dinner.  Something about having a warm meal most every night makes me happy and leaves me satisfied (and far less likely to get hungry again in a few hours).  During the summer, though, my usual meals fall out of rotation because I can't stand the thought of heating up the entire house for five hours to make a pot roast with carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Since there's only so many variates of sandwiches and/or tacos, I've had to get creative.  The recipe below, which is a variation on Alton Brown's stove top mac-n-cheese, is a play on the BLT sandwich, using shell pasta for "bread", spinach** for "lettuce", tomatoes and crumbled bacon.  Should you enjoy leftovers for lunch, this pasta reheats well (with a splash of milk!) in the microwave.

"BLT" shells and cheese

 

1 pound small shells
1 stick butter 

4 eggs 

1-12 ounce can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon kosher salt 

fresh black pepper
2 teaspoons brown mustard
20 (3-8 oz. bags) ounces mild white cheddar, shredded

1/2 lb. center cut bacon, chopped

1/2 lb. frozen spinach (or 1 lb fresh spinach)

1 lb fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced

 Boil pasta according to package directions; drain.  

While pasta is cooking, fry bacon over medium-high heat.  Drain bacon on paper towels, then discard all but 1 tsp bacon grease from pan.  Over medium-high heat, saute spinach until warmed, then add tomatoes and saute until softened.

Add butter and pasta to empty pasta pot; toss to coat until melted.  In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, Sriracha, salt and pepper.  Over low heat, stir egg mixture into pasta.  Slowly stir in cheese until melted.  Stir in sauteed spinach and tomatoes.

Top with bacon and serve.

**I've considered preparing this recipe with arugula, but I have never gotten around to it.  Please let me know how it turns out should you decide to try it yourself!