Serves 3-4
1/2 package or 8oz Spaghetti cooked "al dente" (the dish tastes better with a bit more texture, so try for al dente, instead of softer noodles) Here is the National Pasta Associations directions for al dente
1 small yellow squash, or half of a larger one, 1/2 inch dice
1 small zucchini, or half of a larger one, 1/2 inch dice
1/2 medium yellow onion, 1/2 inch dice
2 Roma tomatoes diced
2 cloves diced garlic
1 tbs olive oil
4 tbs salted butter
2 slices turkey bacon, crumbled (okay, let's be honest, turkey bacon doesn't crumble the same as pork bacon, so once you have them crisped up (or before you cook them), stack 'em and give them a really good chop. Your looking for "bacon bit" size pieces)
4 tsp Key lime juice (I totally used the little lime shaped juice concentrate from the fridge)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Red Pepper Flakes to taste
Take a breath, here I go.
While the spaghetti is cooking, dice up your veggies and place them in a bowl. Dice your garlic, add half of it to the veggies. Reserve the other half for the lime buttery goodness. In a large saucepan, on medium high heat, cook your bacon, take it out of the pan, set aside (chop it once it cools). Add your veggies to the pan, along with the olive oil, a pinch of salt (to be honest, I LOVE salt, so if you are not as big of a fan, opt not to add it here. You can check the flavor at the end and see if you want to add any more once the butter sauce is on the noodles and veggies) and some pepper. Cook them until onions are transparent and squashes and tomatoes are starting to break down, but are still holding their shape. Place them back in their bowl, and set aside. Now is the time for the lime butter sauce. Add the butter, bacon, and garlic into the same pan. Turn heat down to just above medium. Once the butter has loosened the goodies on the bottom of the pan and has turned a light caramel color, add the lime juice. Let it cook for 1 minutes or so. Then turn off the heat. Once the noodles are done, you will drain them, and add the noodles to the lime butter, coat them really well, and then add in the veggies! This is where you want to taste it, for seasoning. And there you have it folks, Spaghetti with Lime Butter Sauce!
p.s. I also am a huge fan of red pepper, but those who eat my food, are not all fans, so I opted to add the red pepper flakes to my own plate and, it was good!
p.p.s. I didn't have any Parmesan, but, it would have been super tasty with that added in too!
p.p.p.s I know, I know, there are a lot of these, but I wanted to tell ya something... I did cook a whole package of spaghetti for this, but I was afraid the flavor wouldn't spread out as well, that's why I only used half the package. If you want to serve 6-8 though, you can cook the whole package of pasta and just add a couple more tablespoons of butter and a few more teaspoons of lime juice to the lime butter sauce before you add the noodles and you're good to go. There is enough bacon, garlicy goodness to spread out on the added noodles too.
