Best Use of Green Tomatoes I’ve ever Tasted!!!!

Living in New England is just the best, but often the short summer leaves us with gobs of green tomatoes, and truthfully, do you like fried green tomatoes? I’ve tried, I don’t, and so the green tomatoes haunt me–until now. My very savvy food expert step-daughter, Anjal raved about this recipe, and she is right. You will actually savor this dish, rather than feeling like you should eat the fried green tomatoes because they took so long for you to make! Nothing worse than obligatory food. Enjoy!

Bacon and Green Tomato Pasta
Ingredients

6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound green tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
Salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons minced pepperoncini
1/2 pound cappelini pasta
2/3 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, plus more for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1 In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Drain and reserve 1 tablespoon bacon fat. Add the olive oil to the pan. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 60 seconds.

2 Raise the heat to medium high. Add the tomatoes, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften and start to turn golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add the wine and pepperoncini and cook until the some of the liquid evaporates and the tomatoes are a bit saucy.

3 Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta.

4 Put the drained pasta back into the pot and add the cooked tomatoes, cheese, 1/2 cup parsley and cooked bacon. Toss until combined, adding reserved pasta water to moisten, if necessary. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper.

5 Divide the pasta among warm plates, sprinkle with additional parsley and serve immediately.