Categories: Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 small red onion, diced
- 1 or 2 jalapeños, seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ripe tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnishing
- 8 ounces linguine, broken in half
- 5 to 5 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Pinch cayenne
- 1 (15-ounce) can or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or feta, for serving
Directions
-
In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the oil on medium-low. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook until fragrant and softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
-
Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the cilantro, linguine, 5 cups of water, salt, cumin, and cayenne. Turn the heat up to high and while occasionally stirring, cook until the pasta is softened to your liking and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10-12 minutes. Please note that towards the end of cooking, you should stir more often to keep the pasta from sticking to the pot. And depending on how juicy your tomatoes are, if you find that most of the liquid has evaporated but the pasta is undercooked, you may need to add the additional 1/2 cup of water.
-
Stir in the black beans, chicken, and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt if needed. Serve warm topped with queso fresco and cilantro.
-
If using another pasta shape, you may have to adjust the amount of water and cooking time. For the tomatoes, use what looks good. I used a combination of heirloom and cherry, but if you’re making this when tomatoes are no longer in season, just use cherry.