Camp Recipe: Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta

We partnered with Harry from Fire to Fork to bring you a series of delicious camp kitchen cooking recipes

We partnered with Harry from Fire to Fork to bring you a recipe for a seriously good Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta.

We partnered with Harry from Fire to Fork to bring you a series of delicious camp kitchen cooking recipes

If you’re after a crowd pleaser to feed a family or a big bunch of mates, it’s very hard to go past a hearty pasta—and this is about as hearty as they come.

I originally discovered this recipe when I had leftover mushroom sauce from a steak dinner that I didn’t have the heart to throw away, so I added some bacon and stirred it through a pasta and accidentally found the best leftovers dish I have ever had. Since then I have adapted it to be a standalone dish and one of the biggest hits I have handed out at camp.

I’ve used a simple charcoal bed as a heat source. This is a great way of keeping your pots and pans clean (and your handles protected) while having a nice social heat source. I use either lump charcoal or recycled almond shell charcoal to give a nice clean and hot burn (I’m not a fan of briquettes). To get it going, just follow the instructions on the back of the bag, it takes about 10 minutes.

If you don’t have charcoal handy, try a nice hardwood like jarrah or iron bark and build up a good bed of coals using smaller timber (about 2–3cm in diameter), and wait until there is no flame to give a nice clean heat. It won’t last as well as charcoal but if it’s easily available in the bush near you it’s a good free source.

Serves: 4-5, cook time around 20min

Ingredients:

• 200g bacon (diced)
• 50g butter
• ¾ of a white onion (diced)
• 4 cloves of garlic (diced or crushed)
• 100g sliced button mushrooms
• 500g packet of spaghetti
• 300ml fresh cream
• 50g parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Put your pasta in boiling water with 2 generous pinches of salt.
2. Add butter to a hot pan and once it has melted, put in your onion and bacon. Stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and mushrooms and stir until the mushrooms release their moisture and start to cook (around 6-8 minutes).
4. Once the mushrooms appear cooked, add the cream and a pinch of salt, then simmer for 5 minutes to reduce it all.
5. Drain the water from the pasta and stir through the other ingredients including the diced parsley.