What I'm Cooking Wednesday: Bacon-Alfredo Casserole

This week I'm sharing a recipe that I tried for the first time this week:

(I had quite the dilemma this week as I somehow broke another memory card, and am having to use my phone to take pictures. I apologize for the poor quality, and I promise it looked better in person!)

My mom got me the Pillsbury Casseroles and Slow Cooker magazine for Jan/Feb 2011. The recipe for Bacon Alfredo Casserole on page 26 sounded so delicious, I just had to try it! Here is the recipe:

Serves: 12
Prep time: 35 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1 box (16 oz) spaghetti
1/2 c butter
1/3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 quart half-and-half
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
1 bag (12 oz) frozen sweet peas, thawed
1 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tbsp parsley

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large pan, cook and drain spaghetti as directed on package; set aside. In the same pan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in half-and-half. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.
3. Add cooked spaghetti, bacon, peas, and 1 cup of the cheese; toss to coat spaghetti. Stir in egg. Spoon into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4. Bake uncovered 20 minutes or until set and edges are bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley. cut into squares and serve.
This recipe was delicious and very filling, and it made a TON! I think I'll bring some down to my grandma later, because there is no way Luke and I will be able to eat all of it anytime soon!

I opted to leave the peas out of the recipe when I made it, because I knew Luke wouldn't want to eat it if I put them in. although, I personally think it would have been better had I added them.

Also, it was very tasty, but I think it would be even better if I had added a clove or two of garlic. I'll have to remember that for next time. Some onion might be good as well.

And I will also add more bacon next time. The bacon was the best part, and I'm not even a huge bacon fan. It just added a lot of flavor.

And just for fun, here's the (blurry) picture that was in the magazine:

And here is my version again:Haha! I can just never get it to look even close to as good as it looks in the magazine! It's also a terrible picture thanks to my phone. Oh well, it tastes good. And that's all that matters!

Next week I will be sharing Luke's all time favorite side dish: parsley potatoes! He will be happy to know I'll be blogging about them, because that means I'll be making them sometime in the near future. I think he seriously eats pounds of that stuff, and it's so simple to make!

Past Wednesdays:
Christmas Treats
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Chicken Stir Fry