Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pasta

Last night I made fresh pasta. Actually, I made Raviole-- my husband's favorite itty bitty ravioli filled with goat cheese, parsley and gruyere.  But of course, I had left over pasta dough. Okay, I lie. I actually got tired of making those itty bitty ravioli and decided that after making a whole container full that it was time to turn the pasta dough into something else.

So, I rolled the pasta into sheets and cut them about and inch wide to make papardelle. I laid them out to dry up a bit on my counter, then put them between sheets of parchment and into the fridge.

This morning when I woke up, I felt inspired to take advantage of this fresh pasta. So I decided to make a breakfast pasta of sorts with all of my breakfast favorites: eggs, bacon, tomatoes, fresh basil. And what a treat it was. Even if you don't stay up all night making fresh pasta, you can use pre-packaged fresh pasta or even dried pasta. Trust me, it is amazing that breakfast/brunch pasta has not made it onto the menus of my fave restaurants yet!

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pasta

Serves 2

6 slices Bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half

1/2 Red Pepper, diced

1/4 Onion, diced

1/4 cup Fresh Basil, chiffonade

Salt and Pepper

2 Eggs

Fresh Pasta for 2 (or dried pasta)

Place a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. If using dried pasta, cook the pasta until el dente. If using fresh pasta, cook the pasta for 2-3 minutes. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of pasta water.

In a large pan over medium high heat, cook the bacon until the fat starts to render. Drain the fat from the pan. Add the tomatoes, red pepper and onion and cook until peppers and onions soften, about 5-7 minutes. Toss in the pasta and about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Stir in the fresh basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Cook 2 eggs sunny side up by heating a non-stick or lightly oiled pan over medium high heat. Add the eggs and let cook on one side until white is just set.

Serve pasta topped with a sunny side up egg. Enjoy for breakfast (or brunch or lunch or dinner)!