Bacon and onion supreme with pasta

Today demonstrated one of the downsides of living with a parent as an adult, when mum asked me to tidy my bedroom. She’s not wrong that it’s a mess, with pretty much everything I own piled on or around the sofa which dominates the room, but she agreed that I’m not wrong either when I point out that I am going to need somewhere to store my stuff if I’m staying here long-term (which I am). The conversation ended there, as a one-all draw, with an unspoken agreement that we’ll come back to it another time.

Today has also been one of those days where, despite having done nothing different to any other day recently, my pain levels have done a sudden spike, so I’m sure you won’t object that I’m going to keep this post is short.

Today I made a meal plan for the coming week and ordered the necessary groceries: unlike last week, I remembered the prawns so the delayed prawn curry will be on the menu.

Something about the thought of recreating that past favourite prompted me to think of another one, bacon supreme, which was a regular childhood dinner because it’s quick, easy, and, made with bacon offcuts as it was when I was a kid, cheap. These days I use decent quality streaky bacon, but I still bulk it out with veg, both for health and to reduce the amount of bacon needed.

The recipe, such as it is, is simple: roughly chop your bacon and whatever veg you’re using (I pretty much always use onion, because I like it, and would usually include mushrooms but left them out because mum doesn’t like them (and because we didn’t have any)), and fry with a splash of oil until starting to brown. Add a couple of tbsps of flour, stir together, and cook for a couple of minutes, then add milk, seasoning, herbs, and any quicker-cooking veg (peas, green beans, sweetcorn kernels, and the like), and simmer over a low heat until the sauce thickens.

Serve with pasta or rice, topped with fresh herbs or extra black pepper if you want it to look less monochrome.

It received two Mum-chelin stars (an unprompted “that was nice”), so is a definite win as well as a pleasant memory of childhood dinners.