Southern Style Tomato Gravy - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 (1 pound) package bacon
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation

Cook the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Reserving the drippings in the pan, remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Stir the butter and flour into the bacon drippings. Scrape the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon; cook and stir together until beginning to thicken, about 3 minutes. Stir the tomatoes into the mixture, using the spoon to break the tomatoes into small pieces while cooking; season with salt and pepper. Add the cream cheese and heavy cream; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until hot and thick, about 10 minutes.