Rocket & Beans with Fusilli
Peasant food doesn’t get much better than this – hunky textural pasta, slippery mealy beans, smoky bacon, and a hot bite from garlic, chilli and rocket. And on the table in under twenty minutes!
(Serves 4 as a main course)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin oil
- 150g good NZ free-range quality bacon, rind removed and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 400g cannellini or white beans, drained and rinsed
- salt
- 500g fusilli (corkscrew pasta) or fusilloni (big fusilli)
- 130g bag young rocket leaves, (if using mature rocket, trim leaves and weigh after trimming)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Method
1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add bacon and fry until crisp.
2. Add garlic and cook a few minutes more, then add beans and a sprinkling of salt and heat through. Turn off heat until pasta is ready.
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in plenty of gently boiling well-salted water until al dente. Drain and transfer pasta to a warmed serving bowl.
4. Add rocket and parmesan, pour on the contents of the frying pan (use a scraper to get all the oil), toss well and serve immediately with extra parmesan cheese.