Bacon, Pea and Red Onion Pasta Sauce

(contributed by ghjwong)

I have seen a few similar versions of this dish. The first time I followed the set recipe, hubby didn't really like it. When I made it a second time, recreating it from memory and cooking it my own way, he loved it and now gets me to make this regularly. He was so surprised that the flavour was sooo good and I didn't add any salt or chicken stock to make it as tasty as it is - Enjoy :)

10 slices of short cut bacon, cut into thin strips
~1 1/2 cups of peas (they can be used frozen)
1 large red onion, peeled, cut in half, then sliced into thin wedges
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
8 mushrooms, thinly sliced
300ml thickened cream
a few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
Freshly cracked black pepper (and salt if needed)
Shaved parmesan cheese to serve
500g cooked spaghetti

Cook pasta and sauce simultaneously

Cook bacon in a non-stick fry pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until well cooked and the bacon starts to crisp. Remove bacon and set aside.

On low-medium heat, cook the red onion in the frying pan with about a tablespoon of oil, stirring frequently. As it starts to caramelise, add the garlic, mushrooms and peas.

Once the mushroom is cooked, add the bacon back into the frypan, and add thyme. Stir in the cream until well mixed, and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Season with black pepper (and salt - though I find that if you have cooked the bacon well, no salt is needed).

Serve on a bed of cooked spaghetti, sprinkled with freshly shaved parmesan :)

Notes:
- what really makes this sauce is cooking the bacon until it starts to crisp. This also intensifies the flavour of the meat, thus there is no need to add salt to the sauce. The shaved parmesan also adds a bit of saltiness.
- for extra "posh-ness", replace bacon with pancetta or prosciutto
- you can add chopped spring onions to the sauce with the garlic.
- the first time I made this, I didn't have any mushrooms or thyme, but it was still very tasty! Thyme is however, a really good addition to the sauce, so use some dried thyme if you cannot get any fresh thyme.