I have many guilty pleasures – two of which are any kind of pasta and the Lifetime Movie Network. I think it is because they are both so reliable. On any day you can find dry pasta in my cupboard and can indefinitely turn to channel 72 for a deeply tragic and overly dramatic made-for-tv-movie. I try my hardest to avoid these guilty pleasures but I have the habit to trip into them on a rainy or slow Sunday afternoons.

This recipe is not a traditional Pasta Carbonara. We grew up eating this dish on busy nights when we had no time to get to the grocery store. We typically always had dry pasta, cheese, coffee creamer, frozen peas and bacon. To this day I still lean on this recipe in a squeeze.

Guilty Pleasure Pasta with Bacon and Peas

Ingredients:

• dry pasta (I prefer linguine or spaghetti)
• 1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup frozen peas
• bacon
• salt and pepper

Assembly:

Boil the pasta until al dente. Meanwhile, microwave the bacon (as much as you prefer) one minute per piece. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the cream and butter and cook on medium until it begins to thicken. Once it turns begins to thicken add the frozen peas. When the peas are warmed through turn off the heat and add the cheese. If you add the cheese while on the heat it can start to glob together (technical term). Stir in the cheese and top with crumbled bacon.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.