New Recipe: Penne with Ricotta and Bacon

1 pound penne
8 slices bacon (about 1/2 pound)
½ large onion, sliced
15 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese, at room temperature
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh garic or one garlic clove chopped
sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes

1.In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne until al dente. Reserve one ladle of cooking water, then drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. In a medium skillet, fry the bacon until crisp and transfer to a plate, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet. Add the onions to the skillet and cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir the onions and ricotta into the pasta along with the reserved pasta cooking water. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle it over the pasta, here I would actually add an additional step, I would pour everything except the basil into a baking dish and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until it is nice and hot. I would even top it with a little parm or mozzarella. After taking it from the oven I would top with the basil then.

I tried this first exactly to the specification on the web page, but after sitting down and it getting cold I was ready to make a few changes. I woud also not mind subbing in dried basil flakes into the ricotta instead of fresh. My kids didn't like the wilted salad in their pasta and picked all of it out, which is not usual for them. This recipe is very filling, we had left overs and everyone was stuffed after one serving, I even ate less than I thought I would, not because it wasn't good. I also WOULD NOT add any extra salt.

Here's the original recipe!