Bacon Mushroom Green Bean Pasta

A bowl of spaghetti with green beans, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese.

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Bacon Mushroom Green Bean Pasta

Bacon Mushroom Green Bean Pasta is the perfect dinner for your fresh garden green beans! The green beans cook with the pasta and are tossed with a simple cream sauce loaded with bacon, mushrooms and onions. This simple pasta is a summer favorite!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: to 6

Calories: 832kcal

Author: Meryl Downing

Ingredients

1 pound spaghetti or linguine pasta (save 1 to 2 cups of the starchy pasta water before draining)
2 cups green beans
6 slices bacon chopped
½ onion sliced (about ¾ cup)
8 ounces crimini mushrooms sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup heavy cream
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
2 Tablespoons fresh herbs basil, thyme, parsley or rosemary

Instructions

Chop and prep all ingredients. Trim the ends off the green beans, no need to trim the pointy tips. Slice the bacon, mushrooms and onions.
Bring a pot of water to a rapid boil, add a pinch of salt and cook the pasta, about 12 minutes. In the last 3 minutes of the pasta cooking, add the green beans to the boiling pasta (Time the pasta for 9 minutes, then 3 more minutes together with the green beans). BEFORE DRAINING, use a coffee cup, ladle or measuring cup to pull out 1 to 2 cups of the starchy cooking water. Reserve it for the sauce. Drain the pasta and green beans together in a colander.
Meanwhile, while the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the chopped raw bacon, the onions and the mushrooms. Stir often with a wooden spoon, the vegetables will cook in the rendering fat from the bacon, about 15 minutes.
When the bacon is fully cooked, the vegetables will be sautéed and golden brown. Add the garlic and stir a minute until fragrant. If there is excessive bacon fat in the skillet, you can spoon out some of it, if not, it will just become part of the sauce.
Add the heavy cream, reduce heat to medium low and bring to a simmer.
As the cream reduces, you can add the starchy pasta water to stretch the sauce. It will continue to reduce and thicken as it simmers. Give it a taste and add a pinch of salt and pepper if needed (the bacon may be enough salt for the dish).
Add the drained pasta and green beans to the sauce and toss well with tongs. Add more pasta water as needed if it becomes too dry. I added about ⅔ cup total.
Add fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese and continue tossing and serve!

Notes

Adjusting the Cream Sauce - A cream sauce is constantly in motion. As it sits on the burner, it will continue to thicken and reduce as the steam escapes. This is great to thicken your sauce, but eventually will become dry. This is when you add more of the starchy pasta water. You can always be adjusting the sauce, by either simmering and stirring to thicken OR adding more liquid to thin. Turn the burner off when you sit down to eat, you may need to add pasta water when you come back for a second helping. Always keep tossing and stirring!
Subbing other Veggies - Green beans could be substituted with asparagus or peas and cooked with the pasta in the same way. Zucchini could be substituted for mushrooms. Kale or spinach could be added to the cream sauce.
Adding Protein - If the bacon isn't enough, you could top this pasta with grilled chicken, salmon, Italian sausage links, or shrimp!
Mushrooms - Wipe any dirt from the mushrooms, or spray them briefly under water if they are very dirty.
Starchy Pasta Water - I added about ⅔ cup of starchy pasta water to thin the cream sauce.
Bacon Fat - I drained about 1 Tablespoon of bacon fat before adding the cream.

Nutrition