One Pot Creamy Asparagus and Bacon Pasta

January. The coldest month. The furnace works overtime and Marvin works overtime complaining about the furnace, which is a cycle as predictable as the tides and approximately as useful. The house is warm enough. The kitchen is always warm enough, because the oven is on, because when is the oven not on in January? January is soup month. Stew month. The month of long, slow cooking that turns the kitchen into the warmest room and the cook into the most important person in the house, which I am anyway, but January makes it official.

I made split pea soup this week — the thick, green, deeply unfashionable soup that no food magazine would ever photograph but that every Jewish grandmother knows is the antidote to January. Split peas, a ham hock (yes — I use a ham hock in my split pea soup, and yes, this is not kosher, and yes, Sylvia would have had opinions, but Sylvia is not here and the ham hock makes the soup better, and I have made my peace with this particular apostasy). Carrots, celery, onion, the holy trinity of soup-making that crosses all cultural lines. The soup simmered for three hours and the house smelled like survival.

School is back in session. The spring semester begins the same way it always does: with students who have forgotten everything they learned in the fall and a teacher who has to pretend she is surprised by this. I am not surprised. I am thirty-eight years into not being surprised. But I begin again, because beginning again is the job. Every semester, every September, every January: begin again. Pick up the thread. Resume the conversation. Trust that what was planted in the fall will eventually bloom.

I called Miriam on Friday. She told me about the rain in Tel Aviv — winter rain, the kind that fills the cisterns and makes the gardens explode in spring. I told her about the snow on Long Island — winter snow, the kind that makes the commute impossible and the kitchen irresistible. We are sisters in different climates, aging in different weathers, but the Friday call is the same. The call is the constant. The call is the chain that connects the Grand Concourse to the Mediterranean, Sylvia's kitchen to Miriam's, the women we were to the women we are.

The soup is gone. Marvin ate the last bowl for lunch today and said, "This soup is better than therapy." I said, "Everything is better than therapy if you add enough salt." He laughed. I made more soup. January continues. The kitchen is warm.

The split pea soup was gone by Monday — Marvin saw to that — and the kitchen doesn’t allow a vacuum. January demands something in the pot at all times, so I turned to this one-pot creamy asparagus and bacon pasta, which has the same logic as the soup: one vessel, low fuss, the smoky pull of cured pork doing half the work for you. The bacon is my ham hock in miniature, and the cream sauce is January in a different form — slow comfort arriving faster than you expect.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

12 oz fettuccine or linguine
6 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Cook the bacon. In a large, deep skillet or wide pot over medium heat, cook the bacon pieces until crisp and the fat has rendered, about 6–8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving the drippings in the pan.
Soften the aromatics. Add the diced onion to the bacon drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Build the liquid base. Pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
Cook the pasta. Add the dry pasta directly to the pot. Stir well and cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 8 minutes. The liquid will reduce and thicken as the pasta absorbs it.
Add the asparagus. Nestle the asparagus pieces into the pot, pushing them beneath the liquid. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 4–5 more minutes until the asparagus is just tender and the pasta is cooked through.
Finish with cheese. Remove the pot from heat. Stir in the Parmesan until melted and the sauce is glossy and creamy. Season with black pepper, red pepper flakes if using, and salt to taste.
Serve. Return the crispy bacon to the pot and toss to combine. Divide among bowls and top with additional Parmesan and fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

One Pot Creamy Asparagus and Bacon Pasta — When the Kitchen Is the Warmest Room in the House