This post brought to you by KRAFT Natural Shredded Cheese and Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.
My cooking and eating habits tend to change quite a bit over the summer. I look for meals that are lighter and cooler and take less time to prepare. Who wants to spend an hour and a half cooking in a hot kitchen and then eating hot food when it’s hot and sticky outside? Not me.
I was searching the Kraftrecipes site for recipes that fit the bill for summer-friendly (and still family-friendly) cooking and found one that sounded fantastic.
I headed to Safeway Just For You (really, as a mom of 5, I’m there several times a week!) and picked up a few more packages of Kraft shredded cheese in the new stand-up pouch (available now at the Safeway family of stores).
I was totally pleased by how easy this pasta dish was to make and how delicious it was – both hot AND cold the next day. It was perfect for a summer time meal.
Bacon and Spinach Pasta
Ingredients:
- 12 slices bacon, crumbled (reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings for recipe)
- 1 lb. pasta, uncooked (I used bow tie pasta)
- 1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
- 12 oz. baby spinach leaves
- 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian Five Cheese Blend
Directions:
- Cook 1 lb. pasta in large pot as directed on package, omitting salt.
- Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet, draining on a paper towel. After bacon has cooled, crumble. Save 2 Tbsp. drippings.
- Whisk reserved drippings with 1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing until blended. Drain pasta; return to pan. Add dressing mixture, bacon, 12 ounces baby spinach leaves and 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian Five Cheese Blend; mix lightly. Serve and enjoy!
It was a hit!
The new Kraft cheese stand-up pouches made this quick recipe even easier. I loooove Kraft cheese and love that I can get these new packages at Safeway and their family of stores.
Be sure to visit Safeway Just For You for more ideas!
- 12 slices bacon, crumbled (reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings for recipe)
- 1 lb. pasta, uncooked (I used bow tie pasta)
- ½ cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
- 12 oz. baby spinach leaves
- 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian Five Cheese Blend
- Cook 1 lb. pasta in large pot as directed on package, omitting salt.
- Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet, draining on a paper towel. After bacon has cooled, crumble. Save 2 Tbsp. drippings.
- Whisk reserved drippings with ½ cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing until blended. Drain pasta; return to pan. Add dressing mixture, bacon, 12 ounces baby spinach leaves and 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian Five Cheese Blend; mix lightly. Serve and enjoy!
© 2014, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
I’m a huge fan of making substitutions for what you have on hand. Sometimes my favorite dishes have come from substituting an ingredient or two.
This sounds scrummy, we do a lovely carbonara pasta and add a touch of summer to it by adding peas… as for this dish I’d cook it but our spinach crop failed this year could I substitute for rocket? a nice peppery kick!
This looks so good and perfect for summer! I am so trying this! Thanks for sharing. :)
This is different than your traditional pasta salad and I am excited to try it. It would be fun to serve at our family party next week. I love fresh spinach
Awesome to make for a BBQ! I love pasta salad dishes like this. Easy to make to, one of my go to’s as a dish.
This looks really really good. I get tired of the same old salads during the summer. I love that this has spinach in it. I will for sure have to try this.
This looks very tasty and could esaily be adapted to have more vegetables!
This looks so tasty! I love the bacon and spinach additions.
Now this sounds right up my ally! I may even splurge and keep the bacon in it! I have to go low/no sodium due to high blood pressure! :(
Looks delicious! Thank you for the recipe