Bacon and chilli pasta recipe

A tasty, spicy pasta dish that's filling, delicious and takes almost no time to make.

Spaghetti is such a brilliant supper dish and this bacon and chilli pasta is no exception. It's always good to have a couple of pasta dishes in your recipe repertoire that can be cooked in about the time it takes to boil your pasta. This is one of them. There's almost no prep to do because the sauce only has five ingredients. If you want to keep it cheap, use cooking bacon which comes in big packs in supermarkets. Alternatively, for speed use the pre-chopped packs of bacon lardons, which you can just chuck straight in the pan.

This recipe is part of our cheap family meals collection – under £1 a head

Ingredients

• 400g (14oz) spaghetti
• 200g (7oz) streaky bacon, chopped
• 2 yellow peppers, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• ¼ tsp chilli flakes
• 500g jar tomato pasta sauce with herbs
• Parmesan and fresh basil to serve

Method

1. Cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions. Drain and set to one side.
2. Heat a large heavy-based frying pan and add the bacon. Cook for 5 mins until just beginning to colour.
3. Add the peppers and cook for 5 mins until lightly charred. Reduce the heat and add the garlic and chilli, then cook for 2 mins.
4. Pour in the pasta sauce and bring to the boil. Add a little water (or wine) if you like, and serve spooned over the hot spaghetti with freshly grated Parmesan and basil leaves.

Top tip for making bacon and chilli pasta:

If the pasta sticks together, you may have drained it too well. Just add a splash of hot cooking water.