Bucatini Pasta with Bacon, Tomato and Green Onion

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/bucatini-bacon-cherry-tomato-and-spring-onion-sauce/

Ok so I didn't have Bucatini pasta....or spring vidalia onions....or white wine. :) But I substituted with what I did have and it still turned out pretty good! The bacon makes it a richer dish than I was originally thinking. A couple tips and what I did different:

• I used Leeks instead of spring vidalia onions. IF you don't normally cook with leeks (well, then...you should start) - they grow in the soil so they are normally very dirty. Best was to clean them is to cut them up first, put them in a bowl fill of cold water and do a good swish/wash that way. All the dirt and crud will sink to the bottom.
• Don't smash all the tomatoes - maybe do half and half. I loved having some soft tomatoes still whole that I could "pop" in my mouth. yum.
• Personally it was a bit salty for me. Just a heads up.
• Serve this dish with a nice, cold, crisp Caesar salad. It's a heavier dish - so something clean and refreshing goes well with it.
• If you don't have Bucatini pasta, serve any thicker pasta with it. I used linguine.
• I substituted the real pepper with some pepper flakes and the white wine with some veggie stock I had on hand.

Ingredients
Salt
1 pound bucatini
EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling, plus a tablespoon
8 slices smoky bacon, chopped
3-4 spring Vidalia onions with a few inches of green tops intact, very thinly sliced or 2 leeks, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced then washed and dried
4 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 red chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped or 1 jalapeno or red Fresno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 pints ripe cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes)

1/2 cup dry white wine
Black pepper

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls, chopped
A handful of basil leaves, torn or shredded
A generous handful of grated pecorino, plus some to pass at table
Yields: Serves 4

Preparation
Heat a large pot of water to a boil for bucatini, season water with salt then cook pasta to al dente.
In a deep skillet or Dutch oven with tight fitting lid heat a drizzle of EVOO over medium-high heat, add bacon and cook to crisp, remove with slotted spoon and reserve on a paper towel covered plate. Drain off some fat if pan has more than a couple of tablespoons of drippings. Add spring sliced Vidalia onions or leeks, garlic and hot pepper and sauté 2-3 minutes then add tomatoes and stir to combine, cover pan. Shake pan occasionally and cook until tomatoes begin to burst, 6-8 minutes. Uncover pot and mash up tomatoes with wooden spoon, add wine and stir a 1-2 minutes. Season the sauce with some salt and black pepper to taste, then reduce the heat to low.

When pasta is ready, add a ladle of starchy water to sauce along with parsley, bacon and bucatini, toss 1-2 minutes with an extra tablespoon EVOO. Turn off heat and toss in basil and cheese, serve immediately