Fridge Pasta

Sounds super yummy, right?  I know it doesn't, but I entitled this post as such because I once saw an episode of Jacques Pepin's cooking show where he made something he called "Fridge Soup".  The soup was basically a vehicle to use up leftovers and odds and ends in the fridge - an "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of recipe, if you will.  Last night was my night to clean out the fridge (because today was grocery shopping day).  I had a package of bacon, about a pint of *about to start rotting* tiny Roma tomatoes that we bought at a farmer's market on Saturday, an onion and a 3/4 full package of organic spinach, plus a package of whole wheat spaghetti (that was supposed to be used in the spaghetti and meatballs that got bumped to another night). 

I rendered the entire package of bacon in my large dutch oven and, when the bacon was getting pretty crispy, I poured off all but about a tablespoon of the rendered fat and added the onion, which I thinly sliced.  I let all of that kind of confit together while the pasta cooked and, once that was done, I turned off the heat and added the tomatoes (which I quartered) and the spinach.  I seasoned with salt and pepper and added about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar (just to brighten up the flavors).  I tossed in the pasta, mixed it all together and viola!  Dinner was served....to a less than enthusiastic audience.  No one (under the age of 9) liked the spinach and even I had to admit that the bacon was a little overpowering...not to mention soggy.  Ew.  Now I know why you should always remove bacon once it has rendered and then add it back in later.  Duh.  It will stay crispy that way.  Oh well, this recipe did what I needed it to do - it used up all of my odds and ends in the fridge and it fed my family.  Done.  Not to be repeated in this exact manner, but done.