Bacon and Onion Pasta Recipe (2024)

What is a good substitute for sweet red vermouth? Balsamic vinegar? White vermouth?

What is a nonalcoholic substitute for vermouth?

And…wished I’d gone with my gut to do it on top of the stove, the whole oven thing was a MESS

Just what sort of establishment are you running over there?

I think this recipe would work better with the items sauteed in a large pan rather than roasted in a sheet pan in the oven.

Tip: if, like me, you find uncooked bacon difficult to cut—freeze it first. Even an hour in the freezer makes a huge difference.

Made a similar recipe from Amor Towles' book the Lincoln Highway for our book club - white wine instead of vermouth, white onions and a bit of homemade tomato sauce - the saltiness of the bacon, sweetness of the onions, mellowed by the wine (and oh, of course, a lot of yummy fat from the olive oil and rendered lardons) made the dish irresistible. even the saucepan was scraped clean.

What is a good nonalcoholic substitute for vermouth?

Red vermouth has a unique full, herbal flavor that works in concert with the sweetness of the onions. (The alcohol will evaporate). Go ahead and buy that bottle of sweet vermouth, plus one of (white) dry vermouth to make a fabulous aperitif blended at whatever ratio pleases you—orange twist embellished, please!

Why not do the bacon and onions in a skillet over low heat? Much easier to add the vermouth, and then to transfer everything to the pasta pot.

I hope the sheet pan craze will end soon. The technique is not all that time saving and is no favor to good ingredients.

My instinct would be to sub in dry red wine with a small splash of maple syrup (or other sweetener). It won't have the same botanicals, but it should be fine.Can I make a pitch for keeping sweet vermouth around, though? Manhattans are delicious. So are Americanos (vermouth, campari and club soda with a twist). Just 50/50 sweet vermouth and orange juice on the rocks is awesome. We should bring Italian or Spanish-style vermouth-heavy happy hours to the States. Who's up for some backgammon?

The spirit of bacon and onion pasta is no-recipe. You use half of whatever large white, shrinking, sprouting onion you have left over, cook it in some olive oil with four slices of thick bacon cut into chunks, add a teaspoon of whatever green dried herb you have. Use gemelli, casarecci, something sturdy. Squeeze a lemon if you've got one. You'll have something magnificent from nothing, something you can eat cold for two days and still feel warm.

Lardons have a very different--stronger flavor--than bacon. Occasionally I see them in Groceries, but more regularly in charcuterie specialty stores. If you see some for sale, buy them and store them either refrigerated or frozen until use. Sadly, don't try to bring them back from Europe with you, as they're against customs regulations and will be confiscated. When I have them, I use them widely in dishes that need that extra something.

No red vermouth in the pantry. I guess people no longer drink manhattans or Rob Roys.

I keep forgetting the vermouth, but that's not a problem.My variation on this is use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Asparagus is a must. Broccoli is so good. Bell peppers are great. The version I have in my oven ATM is asparagus mushroom carrot red onion. Add the firmer stuff first and the rest later. I don't even care what the original recipe was. The fresh parsley at the end really does make a difference, don't skimp on that.

This was very tasty but I was left with the impression that some of the ingredients could be cut without negatively affecting the dish. Maybe the chili flakes, maybe the cheese, maybe even the garlic? There's a lot fighting for attention here.

Strongly disagree with the advice to do the entire thing on the stovetop; tried it this way and it took forever for the onions and bacon to cook down, etc. If you want to avoid pouring a cup of liquid onto a sheet pan, I would roast the bacon and onions in the oven as directed and then move to the stovetop once adding liquid.

This was a funny one. 10/10 would make again. The funny part was you needed to ensure you had a bite of bacon on the fork to enjoy the dish, I had no "sauce". Thinking if i had added pasta water to sauce pan "did on stove not in oven" or more wine to deglaze it would have created a sauce. Would definitely add onions a little after bacon, and then more towards the end. Wine suggestion instead of vermouth works fine for flavor. Not straight forward, but very tasty.

Cut the pasta by 1/4.

Good flavors in this recipe. I cooked the bacon in a cast iron skillet, removed it from the pan, and then sauteed the onions. Added the bacon back with the garlic, herbs, and vermouth and then cooked the mixture down. The fresh parsley is a must! My children enjoyed this one too.

Based on reviews and their notes I made all kinds of changes to this but the end result was really good.

Do yourself a favor and make this on the stovetop. Use 1-2 tablespoons herbs de provence.

As others have said: No point doing this in the sheet pan. I didn't realize my oven apparently takes way longer than average to preheat - with a giant tray of food inside it, it was only up to 450 at the 35-minute mark. The bacon cooked but never had time to get crispy and nothing really caramelized. Still: The final flavor combo was excellent. The vermouth adds something really special. Next time I'll halve the pepper flakes, it's nice to have a kick but a full tsp overwhelmed a bit.

Good for beach because relatively easy. Very tasty. Everyone will love. Made with linguine.

Yummy! I did the oven roasting technique and it wasn’t messy at all, so probably depends on your oven and sugar content of your vermouth and bacon. I used an expensive vermouth I got for Negronis and I do not recommend it—had too much bitterness and weird herb flavors. Just use the 4 dollar sweet vermouth from the grocery store.

This dish is delicious. However, it will not look like the picture in relation to the amount of bacon, it is much less in ratio. I would double the amount of everything (but the pasta) if using one pound of pasta. Or, if feeding only two people reduce the pasta amount to 1/2 lb.

I made as directed and it was not very good. Sort of plain. I was looking forward to making this because, you know, bacon and onions! Also, this makes a ton of food. If you insist on making this, I would halve it. I'm stuck with a bunch of so-so meh pasta. :(

Sauce was okay, not great. If I make again I would add some plum tomatoes and anchovies or pine nuts. The angel hair was problematic because the sauce did not spread evenly through the cooked pasta (and pasta was not overcooked). I would certainly try again with a modified sauce and a rotini or a ziti pasta.

My Italian-American MIL made this often, with broccoli added, using the prep method in "Pasta Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino" by Mark Bittman. SO much rasier than this sheet pan shtick. Can also use broccolini, kale, spinach, etc, whatever's on hand for some healthy vitamins, pre-nuked or steamed as nec'y per the ingredient. So good and so easy!BTW asked MIL, what's the name of this broccoli garlic thing? She replied, "Broccoli bacon thing".