Chicken, Bacon & Pomegranate Pasta

Ingredients;

2-3 Rashers of Streaky Bacon per Person
50-75g Pasta per Person (dependent on the size of your appetite!)
1 Pomegranate
Left over Chicken from a Roast
Mayo to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste

Equipment;

Heavy based pan

Method;

• Pop your heavy-based pan on the heat to get nice and hot.

• Whilst the pan is getting hot, chop up your bacon into small pieces. Throw into the pan to sizzle away - no oil needed as streaky bacon is fairly fatty.

• Put water on to boil for your pasta. Once boiling cook the pasta according to the instructions on your particular packet.

• Once the bacon is crisp, tip out onto a pile of paper towels (5-6 sheets usually does the trick). This absorbs any excess oil and helps keep the bacon super crisp.
  

• Whilst the pasta is cooking, remove the seeds from the pomegranate.
  Top Tip; cut the pomegranate in half and hold one half, seeds down across your open fingers. Smack the back of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon to release the seeds without the husk. If any of the white husk gets into the seeds, just pick them out.

• Chop up your left over chicken into bite sized pieces.
  
• Pop the bacon, pomegranate and chicken into a bowl and add 1tbsp of mayo and a twist of salt and pepper to taste. Mix together.
  
• Once the pasta is tender, drain and add to the bowl. Mix thoroughly so that the pasta is just coated and the ingredients are evenly distributed.
  
• Eat right away or leave for 20 minutes and enjoy warm instead.

Verdict;

This recipe is a really good way to make the most of a left over chicken from a roast whilst adding in freshness from the pomegranate. The saltiness of the bacon works so well with the little seeds of pomegranate when they explode in your mouth that you don't really need much of a sauce to bind the mix. The mayo is enough to pull everything together without overpowering or making the meal greasy. Overall this is a really nice filling meal but super refreshing.

If you crave a little more salad-y goodness, avocado cut up and stirred through would be absolutely amazing!