If you’ve ever had the tequila pasta from CPK you know it’s truly incredible. I always loved going with someone who wanted to split the pesto pasta and the tequila pasta (without chicken of course) because you knew that was going to be a good day.

A few years ago (probably more like 10), CPK released a cookbook that had their tequila pasta recipe written in it. I’ve adapted here to use less cream (see note for why), use more peppers, make it much spicier, and without the chicken. Let me know what you think and if it lives up to your memory! I will warn you there are a lot of peppers to chop.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of long pasta of choice (I use bucatini, linguine, or fettuccine)
• Olive oil 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 
• 1 stick of butter, divided (see note) 
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 5 bell peppers (I used 2 red, 1 green, 1 orange, and 1 yellow), sliced
• 5 or 6 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated 
• 6 Serrano peppers (if you want it spicy), minced 
• 1 jalapeño pepper, minced 
• 2 tablespoons of tequila, I use Blanco 
• 1 – 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more or less to taste
  • I used one juicy lime 
• 1/2 cup of veggie broth
  • I use the pasta water with a vegetarian chicken bouillon cube 
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream (see note)
• Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Directions

1. Boil and salt your water and start to cook your pasta in a large pot. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, we will finish cooking it in the sauce later, reserve at least a cup of pasta water before draining. 
2. In a very large skillet over medium heat, add two tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Add in the red onion and cook for a few minutes and then add in the bell peppers. Season well with kosher salt (I like to try a pepper or two to make sure they’re well seasoned) and cook until tender about 8 to 10 minutes for me. Remove them from the pan and set aside. 
3. Add the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and another tablespoon of olive oil. Add the Serrano peppers, jalapeños, garlic, and a pinch of salt and cook together for about 3 to 5 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the tequila and veggie stock. Give it a good stir and let it reduce by half. Then add the peppers back in, along with the cream. 
4. Stir in the pasta, as well as some of the reserved pasta water, and cook for two to three minutes until the noodles are done. Add in the lime juice (start with 1/2 a tablespoon or so to make sure you want more) and cilantro and give everything a good mix, adding more pasta water as needed to create a luscious sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
5. Off the heat, stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano and taste again for salt and pepper. You can add more lime juice as well! I usually add a bit more. 

Notes:

• BUTTER & HEAVY CREAM: The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream. You can of course use that much cream and honestly, it does make a delicious sauce. But as someone who is lactose intolerant, I’m always trying to find ways to cut how much cream I use, so that’s why I use a full stick of butter. I’ve used vegan butter so it totally makes up for the 1/2 cup of cream right? ;). If you’re going to use more cream, I would use a couple of tablespoons of butter (vegan or not) instead of the full stick.