BBQ Bacon Pasta with Roasted Peppers

This pasta with smoky BBQ sauce and crispy bacon is a weeknight dinner dream. It comes with roasted bell peppers, grated Parmesan and crème fraiche. It’s saucy, creamy, easy and absolutely bursting with flavors.
Best of all, you can throw it together in about 20 minutes, making it the perfect option for busy weeknights.

This may sound a little crazy, but BBQ sauce and pasta are an awesome combination.
It’s amazing on so many different levels. It is buttery, slightly spicy, smoky and a little sweet — and depending on how hot you like your food, you can add some chipotle powder, hot sauce, etc… take a bite and you’ll agree: this is delicious.

I highly recommend adding bacon to this pasta, not only for it’s crispy texture, but also to inject a nice smoky flavor. Once we’ve got the bacon crispy it’s a breeze from there. We don’t discard the bacon’s grease from the pan and start to make the sauce from there.

The BBQ sauce complements the crispy bacon and tender roasted bell pepper so well, making it a real taste sensation. This is a recipe not to be missed. Just add a big side salad and enjoy.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.

Cooking Video

Yield: serves 4

BBQ Bacon Pasta with Roasted Peppers

Print

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 300g /10.5 oz pasta
• 200 g/7 oz smoked bacon bits
• 1 jar (180g/6.5 oz) roasted bell peppers, drained
• 100 g/3.5 oz crème fraiche 30% fat
• 1 + ¾ cup/400 ml puréed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 50 g/2 oz grated Parmesan, more for serving
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp wole grain mustard
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp each: salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, turmeric, red pepper flakes, dried cumin
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta al dente. Scoop up ½ cup cooking water, then drain the pasta.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon, cook until crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet, leaving as much grease as possible in the skillet.
3. Lower the heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Deglaze the skillet with ¼ cup cooking water and stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Simmer for 1-2 minutes. 
4. Add roasted bell peppers. 
5. Next stir in tomato paste and ketchup. Add balsamic vinegar, spices and mustard. Whisk until combined. Pour in puréed tomatoes. Stir and bring to a boil.
6. Add pasta, crème fraiche and Parmesan. Toss until combined. Finish with bacon and parsley, give it good stir. Add a splash of cooking water, if needed. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
7. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Notes

Calories Per Serving: 555 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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