Bacon and Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Penne

This wonderful pasta dish uses sun-dried tomatoes which are packed in olive oil, multi-grain penne pasta, specifically, the Barilla Plus brand, and a packaged light Alfredo sauce by Buitoni brand to produce this calorie reduced dish, another Weight Watchers favorite. Coming in at only 298 calories, this flavorful dish, while containing a few store brand specific items is actually very good and good for you too! In the Weight Watchers Magazine, you can find the original recipe on page 47 of the ?Five Ingredient 15 Minute Meals? cookbook. Remember, the ?five ingredients? exclude cooking spray, salt, pepper, water, and optional ingredients.

Ingredients


8
Ounces
Penne, multigrain, Barilla Plus


1
Package
Alfredo sauce, Buitoni (10-ounces)*


½
Cup
Sun-dried tomatoes, julienne


10
Slices
Bacon, crumbled


¼
Cup
Basil, fresh, chopped


1
Tsp
Black pepper, freshly ground






Procedure Steps


1.
Cook pasta according to package direction, omitting any salt and fat; drain and keep warm.


2.
While the pasta is cooking, combine the Alfredo sauce with the sun-dried tomatoes in a saucepan and heat over a medium-low setting for a few minutes.


3.
In a large bowl or pot combine the pasta with the sauce and stir well, then transfer to a serving bowl.


4.
Top with the crumbled bacon, chopped basil and cracked black pepper

*I could have made a ?light? Alfredo sauce on my own using skim milk thickened with a cornstarch slurry, but we wanted to stick with the original recipe this time, however, for a cost saver, 10 ounces of homemade light Alfredo would work just as well. Indeed, for 1 ¼ cups of skim milk warmed with about ¼ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese, and thickened with 2 Tbsp of cornstarch slurry would do the trick to replace the Buitoni brand sauce. We actually doubled the recipe when we made it, but here is the original recipe, which yields 5 servings, each account for 6 Weight Watchers points, and has 298 calories, 9 grams fat, 16 grams protein, 38.5 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 29 mg cholesterol, and 624 mg sodium.

In our preparation of this dish, I kept the garnishes from step 4 out of the large serving bowl and opted instead to individually garnish each serving portion instead. With leftovers, this enabled us to heat up individual portions of the pasta/sauce and then add the bacon, basil and cracked black pepper to each of our liking.