Jalapeno Popper Bucatini
A creamy, cheesy pasta dish with plenty of jalapenos and topped with crispy breadcrumbs. Imagine a crispy jalapeno popper combined with pasta.
Ingredients
- 250 g dried bucatini
Jalapeno popper sauce:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 fresh jalapenos deseeded and sliced (leave some seeds in if you want some heat)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 banana shallot minced
- 150 g cream cheese
- 50 g cheddar finely grated
- Small handful of fresh oregano or 1tsp dried
- 1/2 tsp salt
Breadcrumb topping:
- 20 g panko breadcrumbs or any breadcrumb of choice
- Small handful of fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
Breadcrumb topping:
- Heat the 2tbsp of olive oil in a pan over a medium heat
- Add the panko breadcrumbs and fresh/dry oregano and mix continuously until golden brown, this will take several minutes
- Once golden brown, season with a pinch of salt and leave aside for later
Jalapeno popper pasta:
- Start by boiling the bucatini in plenty of salted water. Cook for 1 minute less than the packaging instructions so the pasta remains al dente. Make sure to reserve the pasta water for later
- At the same time, sauté the shallot and garlic in the olive oil over a medium heat until the shallot has turned translucent. This will take around 1 minute
- Then add the finely sliced jalapenos and continue to sauté for a further minute to slightly soften the jalapenos
- Next add the cream cheese and mix together over a low heat
- Add a ladle of pasta water along with the bucatini, and then add the finely grated cheddar and oregano.
- Remove the pan from the heat and mix together until the sauce thickens and becomes creamy. Add more pasta water to loosen the sauce if desired. It thickens quite quickly
- Serve up and top with the crispy breadcrumbs