Guys, HOLD THE FRICKIN’ PHONE!!!! This right here is the bomb dot com!! This Spicy Rotini with The Halal Guys hot sauce is a staple in our house. We actually make it every. single. Sunday. and have it for lunch on Monday and Tuesday. It’s got all the makings of a good meal:

☑ Carbs Carbs Carbs

☑ Bacon

☑ Spice

☑ Onions&Jalapenos

☑ Gooey Cheese

☑ Gahhhhlic

Did you know there is a real science to cooking bacon? According to Alton Brown, who is my hero and the best cooking/science/kitchen genius around, the way to get the best flavor and texture of bacon is to cook it cold at 400ºF for 12 to 15 minutes. An alternative method is cooking it cold from the fridge on a cold pan and letting it heat up slowly. This slow cooking on a stovetop allows for even cooking, which is great for textured eaters!

Now I know some of you are vegetarians and will ask, “Can I make this without bacon?” You can do whatever you want, but I will tell you that we have tried this recipe with chicken, with tilapia, and with no meat whatsoever. There is a certain  f l a v o r  that bacon adds to the dish. A sort of hint, and undertone of smokeiness that really pairs well with the hot sauce ingredients. So yes, you can make this without bacon, but I highly recommend it with bacon.

You could make your own sauce, but why go through all that? We have tried a lot of those organic mom and pop, Trader Joe’s, Wegman’s, etc. pasta sauces. You know, the ones that cost $7 a jar? Ultimately, we settled on Rinaldi. We love the different flavors it offers; we love that the tomato flavor is not too overwhelming so we can enjoy the other flavors of the pasta, in this case, the hot sauce and the bacon.

I’m going to pause here and tell you about how much we love cheese. The recipe calls for 1 cup, right? But we honestly add 1 1/2 because we love how gooey it ends up. And then, when we reheat it (because we make it during meal prep), we add more cheese on top. Yea, we’re obsessed.

Look at our attempt to be fancy and use cloth napkins! Ha! Hope you guys like the spicy rotini as much as we do!

Print Recipe

Spicy Rotini with the Halal Guys Hot Sauce

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Servings

adults

Ingredients

• 2 cups rotini
• to taste salt
• 4 pieces thick cut bacon
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium jalapeno
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 TBSP The Halal Guys Hot Sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• garnish Basil

Prep Time 5 mins Cook Time 20 mins Servings adults Ingredients 2 cups rotini to taste salt 4 pieces thick cut bacon 1 medium onion 1 medium jalapeno 3 cloves garlic 1 TBSP The Halal Guys Hot Sauce 1 cup mozzarella cheese garnish Basil

Instructions

1. Bring water to boil. Add in salt and Halal Guys hot sauce and pasta. Boil until al dente.
2. Dice the bacon in to small pieces and cook.
3. Cut onion lengthen-wise and cut jalapeno in to half coins.
4. Once bacon is almost fully cooked, remove on to paper towel. Drain out most of the bacon fat from the pan. Leave enough bacon fat for the onions and jalapenos to simmer in.
5. Add in jalapenos first. Once they get tender (2 mins), add in onions. Once the onions are translucent, grate in the garlic. Let this all cook until tender but be careful not to burn the garlic.
6. Add in pasta sauce. Let everything simmer for 5 mins.
7. Add in the pasta (al dente). Add in some of the water that the pasta was boiling in into the pasta sauce.
8. Let this simmer for 3 mins. Add in bacon and stir. Add in cheese. Stir and let it simmer until cheese is fully melted.
9. Garnish with basil.

Recipe Notes

1. The key here is to make sure to add enough water that you boiled the pasta in into the pasta sauce without making it too watery.
2. If you really want to be a daredevil, add in 1 1/2 TBSP of the sauce instead. BOOM.

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