I’ve been on a mezcal kick lately. With regard to cooking and drinking the artisanal spirit, I can’t get enough of it. I equally enjoy cooking with mezcal because of the unparalleled flavor punch it packs. This Creamy Mezcal, Bacon & Roasted Tomato Linguine recipe is the perfect example. The smokiness of the mezcal perfectly compliments the sweet and savory flavors of the roasted tomatoes, creaminess from the heavy cream and parmesan cheese, and the spice from the red pepper flakes. Tossed with vivacious fresh herbs and linguine noodles, this dish is ready to impress.
You may opt to use canned roasted tomatoes to save time. That’s fine if you literally don’t have time, but the dish won’t taste the same. You can’t replicate the caramelized, savory goodness from roasting fresh roma tomatoes. Frankly, a better alternative to save time would be to skip the roasting aspect altogether. Chop the tomatoes and incorporate them with the onion in Step 5 below.
You can make this dish without mezcal. It will still be good, but it will lose the extra dimensional wow factor. If you’re making this for a special occasion, don’t skip the mezcal. If you want a sneak peak before hand sans mezcal, give it go, but all-the-while imagine how the smokiness of the mezcal would round out all of the flavors.
This dish really tastes like one that you wouldn’t regret paying a bit too much for at that new hot spot around the corner… the place you had to make a reservation for weeks in advance. Here’s a random thought: save a little money and score some critical social points by inviting over your friends over to revel in this recipe. Just a thought.
Creamy Mezcal, Bacon, & Roasted Tomato Linguine
Course: MainsCuisine: Italian, FusionDifficulty: Easy4
servings45
minutes30
minutes1
hour15
minutesCreamy, smoky, savory, and just the right amount of spice: that’s the result of combing roasted roma tomatoes, bacon, chili flakes and mezcal in this linguine pasta recipe
Ingredients
1 pound 1 linguine noodles
1/2 pound 1/2 uncured bacon, roughly chopped
1 pound 1 roma tomatoes
4 cloves 4 garlic, minced
1 medium 1 yellow onion, diced
2 cups 2 tomato sauce
1 cup 1 heavy creamy
1 cup 1 parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup 1/4 mezcal
2 tablespoons 2 dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons 2 red chili flakes
2 tablespoons 2 fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons 2 fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons 2 olive oil
2 tablespoons 2 salt
2 tablespoons 2 ground black pepper
1/4 cup 1/4 extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425°.
- Slice each roma tomato in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the inner core containing the seeds. Place the remaining tomatoes core-side up on a baking sheet, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Roast for 25-30 until the outsides begin to caramelize. Set aside to cool.
- Prepare the linguine per its package’s instructions. Set aside.
- Heat a large pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook for 5-7 minutes. Keep the pot or skillet on the heat, but remove the bacon. Discard about half of the left over bacon grease.
- Add the remaining extra virgin olive oil to the pot or skillet, and add the onion. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add the mezcal to the pot or skillet. Deglaze it by scraping the sides and bottom. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Stir in tomato sauce, brown sugar, and dried red pepper flakes until well combined. Once it comes to a simmer, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, parsley, and basil. Stir well, until the parmesan cheese melts completely.
- At this point the roasted tomatoes should be cool enough to handle. Roughly chop and stir into the sauce.
- Toss with the prepared linguine noodles, top with additional grated parmesan cheese, and enjoy!
