Breakfast Pasta for Dinner (or Dinner Pasta for Breakfast)
Credit…Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
When I’m tired and hungry and there’s nothing promising in the fridge save for a half-dozen eggs, there’s always breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs on toast or a crisper-clearing frittata are dependable, self-assuring standbys. And if I also have a couple of strips of bacon, a generous scoop of orzo and a bit of Parmesan, there’s skillet pasta with bacon and eggs, a brilliant new recipe from Ali Slagle. It’s quick, easy and a little luxe — the runny egg yolks mingle with the bacony, cheesy pasta to create a carbonara-leaning one-pot meal. Eat this for Friday dinner with a handful of arugula on the side (for “health”), or for Sunday breakfast with sliced oranges and never-ending coffee.
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Skillet Pasta With Bacon and Eggs
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When I’m in need of a more substantial meal, it has to be chicken and rice. Kay Chun’s coconut sambal chicken with rice blends unsweetened shredded coconut with chiles, cherry tomatoes, coconut milk and lime juice to create a powerfully flavorful condiment. Scale the chile up or down to suit your tastes and use either chicken breasts or thighs; whatever you do, serve it with loads of fluffy white rice.
Like everyone else at New York Times Cooking, I’m excited for spring’s snappy produce while savoring these last few rounds of peak roasted root vegetables. Those steadfast sweet potatoes on my counter are destined to become Yasmin Fahr’s crispy smashed sweet potatoes, a delightful take on tostones. And the eager radishes at my local grocery store will turn into juicy pops of subtle heat next to sweet peas and savory salmon in this Kay classic. (My store sells radishes without their tops, so I’ll just double the parsley or dill to make up for the lost leaves.)
Ever since I watched this reel on our Instagram, I’ve had Hetty Lui McKinnon’s vegan tantanmen with pan-fried tofu stuck in my brain. A lot of reader notes mention adding sautéed bok choy or spoonfuls of miso paste and chile crisp. I’ll make mine with the fresh noodles I stashed in the freezer; I’m also going to try Hetty’s suggested shortcut of crumbling and frying the tofu with the sliced shiitakes to save a step.
And just as Ali’s skillet pasta can be breakfast or dinner, this ricotta toast with roasted grapes from the chef Raquel Villanueva Dang could be a starter or dessert. (Cheese with fruit, after all, is a very nice way to end a meal, and grapes are having a moment.) The soft, blistered grapes are lacquered with a salty-sweet glaze of balsamic vinegar, honey and fish sauce, the last ingredient a nod to Raquel’s Filipino heritage. Try subbing in coconut aminos for the fish sauce if you would like the dish to be vegetarian, and skip the butter on the bread if you don’t want to pull dairy focus from that velvety whipped ricotta.
