Spaghetti / Linguine with cream sauce, bacon and peas

INGREDIENTS
 - Half a pack of pasta for 2 people
 - 3/4 pack of soft cheese with garlic and herbs (Philadelphia make one, but the own brand may well be cheaper)
 - 2 or 3 slices of bacon per person (smoked is saltier than unsmoked and dry cured will cook crisper as it has a lower water content)
 - Cup of peas for 2 people
 - Sunflower / vegetable oil for cooking


Fill a big saucepan with water and bring to the boil (this may be easier if you boil the water in a kettle first, then fill the saucepan). Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the pan.
Add the pasta and make sure it is submerged in the water - there should be a good coverage of water.
Add the peas into the water with the pasta.
In a saucepan or frying pan heat up 2 teaspoons of oil and add strips of bacon (cutting with kitchen scissors may be easier than cutting the bacon with a knife). This should be cooked over a medium heat.
Once the bacon has cooked for about 5 mins turn the heat down to low and add the soft cheese. Stir.
Once the pasta has been cooking for 10 - 12 mins check a strand - it should not be too soft but should have lost its hard "bite". Remember - wholewheat pasta takes at least 5 mins longer than white pasta.
Drain the pasta as soon as it is cooked but keep back a cupful of the water that the pasta was cooked in.
Add the water to the bacon and cheese sauce - the full cup may be too much, the sauce needs to be the consistency of cream / cheese sauce / thin gravy.
Stir the bacon and cheese sauce through the pasta and peas, then serve carefully!


ALTERNATIVES
This recipe can be adjusted by adding different vegetables to the pasta water as well as / instead of peas.
Mushrooms can be fried in with the bacon.
The bacon could be replaced by deli meats such as pancetta / chorizo / parma ham.