New England Pork Bowl

1/2 cup bourbon (this can be left out)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound boneless pork loin, cut into bite-sized pieces

6 bacon slices, cut into 1/2" pieces

2 cups vertically sliced onion
1 cup thinly sliced leek
2 cups cubed peeled sweet potato
2 cups water
48 ounces chicken broth
3 cups chopped spinach (1 bag baby spinach)

4 cups hot cooked thick hearty noodle (8 ounces dry) (rigatoni or gemeli)
Some shredded cheese

Night before, combine first seven ingredients in a container. Seal and marinate overnight, stirring occasionally. If you forget, just do it and let it sit while you’re doing everything else.
 
When you’re ready for dinner...get your noodles going. It takes longer than you think to peel and chop sweet potato so do it now before you start the bacon.
 
Remove pork from container, reserving marinade.
 
Cook bacon pieces in a large stew pot over medium high-heat until bacon is crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving bacon drippings in pot, set bacon aside.
 
Add pork to pot, sauté for 5 minutes, then remove pork from pot.
 
Sauté onion and leek for 5 minutes.
 
Add reserved marinade, pork, sweet potato, water, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
 
Stir in cooked bacon and spinach, and cook 1 minute.
 
In soup bowl, put 2/3 cup pasta, 2 cups soup, and top with cheese.

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Note: For storing leftovers, don’t mix the pasta and soup or it’ll get all smoushy. I prefer to just cook how many noodles I want for that night. I’d rather boil noodles a couple nights in a row than have gross old noodles.

This soup really tastes better the next day, so you might want to make it the day before you want it.