Quick Lunch: Farfalle with Marscapone and Apple Cinnamon Bacon

I have been staring at this pack of apple cinnamon bacon for a few days. . .

It was a Christmas gift from my friend Aimee who shares my love for bacon. She bought it fresh at a farm on the western side of the state. While I knew my bacon was waiting for me, Aimee and I live quite a distance apart. She stuck in her freezer at work so we could plan a rendezvous which occurred last week.

So I've been looking at it trying to figure out what to do with it. It was too special to just fry up by itself (although now that I tasted it, that would have been good too). I really wanted to showcase it and thought about some of the flavors that may compliment it. A pasta dish came to mind. Don't worry there's plenty of bacon left for other dishes this week!

Farfalle with Mascarpone Cheese, Apple Cinnamon 

Bacon and Cranberries

This was for a light lunch so I only made 1/2 a box of pasta and I have a lot left over. . .  

Some of the ingredients used for today's dish - all staples in the house.

Ingredients:

1/2 box of Farfalle pasta (or your shape of preference) cooked

1/2 cup of Mascarpone Cheese

1/4 cup of dried cranberries

1/3 cup of pine nuts

Dash of salt (I chose sun dried tomato flavor - I have an array of flavored salt, and yes, I have a problem)

Ground Pepper to taste

Chopped Cooked Bacon - Apple Cinnamon goodness - Our Piece de resistance!

Cook pasta per directions on box. You will want to drain quickly and have the other ingredients ready as you will want the marscarpone cheese to melt in. Take pasta and stir quickly with the cheese until well covered. toss in cranberries and pinenuts. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with bacon.

I would just like add that the aroma of the bacon in the house was wonderful. I was very tempted to keep the bacon grease for a future dish. I am happy to report the cooked bacon is going to go back in the fridge, wrapped in paper towel, for future use. Good stuff. Thank you Aimee!

Helpful hint for the day: I love things like cranberries and pine nuts. These items aren't always cheap, especially when I also like pecans, almonds, etc. etc. I store them in the freezer so they stay fresh and are always ready for use.

Enjoy! Leftovers for lunch tomorrow. . .