The Lush Chef

Libations used: 1/4 cup white wine
Libations left over: pretty much the whole bottle, so serve with the pasta
I've been growing various herbs in some large pots outside my apartment and they're growing like crazy.  The basil needed some serious harvesting and I was craving pasta, so this dish from the beautiful Australian food blog What Katie Ate looked like the perfect thing to whip up on a Sunday night.  Grab some spring onions from the market, use up that leftover uncooked bacon from brunch, crack open your favorite bottle of dry white wine and you're sure to have a crowd-pleasing dish in no time.

Mushroom & Bacon Spaghetti with Basil, White and Cream Sauce - serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 6-8 slabs of bacon, chopped with excess fat removed
• olive oil
• butter
• 3 large spring onions, sliced (use both white and green parts)
• 2 cups of quartered mushrooms
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest
• Large handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 1/4 cup light cream
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
• 1 package spaghetti
• Freshly grated parmesan

- Cook spaghetti, according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan, pour 1 Tbs olive oil and heat gently.
- Add the bacon and cook until lightly crispy.
- Add the spring onions and cook for another 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add about 1 Tbs butter and toss the ingredients to coat.  Continue to cook for another 5 minutes or until mushrooms are cooked through, but still al-dente.
- Add the lemon zest to the bacon & mushroom mixture and stir well.
- Add the basil and stir well.
- Pour in the cream and wine and stir well.  Cook on a low simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 1-2 Tbs of parmesan and keep warm until noodles are done.
- Add noodles to the sauce and mix until they're full coated.  Top with freshly grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.