Farro Pasta with Sauteed Zucchini, Roasted Scallion, & Tomato Braised Niman Ranch Bacon Lardons

Concept here was to braise some uncured bacon as you might a good pork belly, and use a little bit of the drippings to flavor a loose tomato sauce. Definitely comfort food here. By using a sparingly small amount of the sauce and braised bacon, and contrasting that with some fresh flavors of summer, this is comfort food that feels pretty light.

From gastronomic guesswork

The great ingredient here is farro pasta, now available in a 100% organic / 100% farro packaging at Whole Foods. This pasta is delicious, not cheap at $6-$7 a box, but just delicious on it's own with a little olive oil or butter. The preparation involved cutting slab Niman Ranch uncured applewood smoked bacon into lardons 1/4" square, browning all sides in a saute pan, then braising the lardons in a separate pot of roasted tomatos for 30 minutes. The zucchini were sauted in a small amount of the bacon drippings and some minced red onion, the scallions were separately broiled with grapeseed oil then diced. After removing the zucchini, the drippings and onion was combined with the tomato sauce (sans lardons) and reduced by 1/3. The lardons were returned to the sauce to warm through. The plating started with a small portion of the tomato / bacon sauce, topped with the pasta, then the veggies, and finally the lardons.