If you’re looking for hot honey recipe ideas, look no further! This pasta is easy to make but fun and surprising, tossed with roasted cherry tomatoes and topped with creamy goat cheese and a generous drizzle of hot honey and crispy sage. Perfect for a simple midweek date night at home.
Let’s make some simple pasta with a fancy twist
This pasta looks fairly normal and straightforward, but watch out, it has a twist! A drizzle of sweet, spicy hot honey has joined the party.
For the uninitiated, hot honey is runny honey infused with chili, and if you’re someone who likes adding honey to savory foods like cheese, it’s really quite perfect for you. It’s the kind of thing that can totally transform a dish without any extra effort, so while it may not be the cheapest ingredient around, you get a lot of bang for your buck.
This dish strikes a careful balance of sweet, spicy and savory. We toss the pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes, top it with a dollop of tangy goat cheese or whipped feta, and drizzle the hot honey over the top with some crispy sage.
Ingredients & Swaps
- Hot Honey: Honey infused with spicy chili is available from several brands now so should be reasonably well available. I order the Wilderbee honey from Amazon UK and the popular Mike’s brand is available on Amazon US. But plenty of larger supermarkets are now stocking it too, including Trader Joe’s in the US. It’s worth mentioning that all brands are a little different. Some are almost entirely pure honey so will be very intensely flavored – a tiny drizzle will go a long way. Other have a mix of ingredients and won’t be as intense, so you may want to be more heavy handed with it. I give a range of 2-4 tablespoons in the recipe ingredient lists, and you’ll just need to figure out what works with the brand you’re using.
- Tomatoes: Cherry, baby plum or baby heirloom – it’s all good here but you want them to be good quality and flavorful. We’ll roast them in dried herbs and and garlic, then toss in some wine for good measure.
- Pasta: I definitely prefer a long pasta shape here. Spaghetti, linguine (pictured), tagliatelle or bucatini. There’s no reason you can’t use a short pasta shape if you need to though.
- Parmesan style cheese: Parmesan, pecorino or a generic Italian hard cheese, to be mixed in with the tomatoes after they roast. If you need this dish to be vegetarian, watch out for animal rennet that is common in these Italian cheeses.
- Goat cheese: Or you can swap in whipped feta. I definitely don’t recommend swapping in anything too mild like cream cheese or ricotta though. The tanginess of goat or feta cheese plays best here and stops the dish being overly sweet. I’m using a French goat cheese which is creamy and spreadable. It melts into the tomatoes and is very dreamy. If yours is the aged kind, you could arrange it in slices over the top.
- Sage: Crispy sage is my favorite fresh herb to serve this with. It is optional, and you could toss in some basil if you prefer, but for me the sage gives a nicer contrast against all the sweetness and helps to keep the flavors balanced. Fresh rosemary could work as an alternative.
Alternative method: Pan frying the tomatoes
I tested a version of this recipe where the tomatoes were cooked down in a large saute pan instead of roasted in the oven. I wanted to mention that this is completely do-able and it will save you some time.
It’s not exactly the same, it ends up more loose and saucy and you miss that really concentrated, jammy finish that roasting cherry tomatoes offers. If your tomatoes are bland, you won’t get away with it quite so much as if you were roasting them, so I would recommend only doing this if your tomatoes are nice and sweet.
To pan fry the tomatoes: heat a shallow layer of olive oil in a large saute pan and add the tomatoes to it, frying for 5-10 minutes (it will vary based on the tomatoes, the pan, the heat) until the tomatoes are burst and reduced. Add the garlic and herbs, then the splash of wine.
More Ideas for Hot Honey
Tomato, Goat Cheese & Hot Honey Pasta
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz (300 g) linguine or other long pasta shape
- 2 tbsp olive oil, for roasting
- 1 lb (450 g) cherry or baby plum tomatoes, halved
- 1 tsp mixed Italian herbs or Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 3 cloves chopped garlic, chopped
- 2 tbsp white wine, or vegetable broth
- ½ cup (50 g) parmesan, pecorino or Italian hard cheese*
- ½ cup (115 g) creamy goats cheese, or whipped feta
- 1 handful fresh sage leaves
- 2-4 tbsp hot honey, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 360F.
- Get the tomatoes roasting. In a large casserole dish or roasting tin, scatter the tomatoes and drizzle with the oil, garlic, dried Italian herbs and rosemary. Mix to get them all well coated, add salt and pepper to taste, and extra oil if the pan seems too dry. Roast for 25-35 minutes, or until they are well reduced and jammy.2 tbsp olive oil, 1 lb cherry or baby plum tomatoes, 1 tsp mixed Italian herbs or Italian seasoning, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tsp dried rosemary
- Meanwhile, prepare your crispy sage. Heat a shallow layer of olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the sage and fry, stirring regularly, until just about crisp – be careful not to burn it. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel to soak up the extra oil. Set aside.1 handful fresh sage leaves
- Set the pasta cooking once the tomatoes are nearly ready. Don't worry if the timings don't align perfectly – the tomatoes can wait around in the oven, but you don't want to make the pasta wait.10.5 oz linguine or other long pasta shape
- Once done, remove the tomatoes from the oven and immediately pour the wine into the pan and mix through with a spatula – this will get everything unstuck from the pan and add flavor.2 tbsp white wine
- Add the parmesan cheese and stir through. If the pasta isn't ready, put the pan back in the oven (at the bottom, with the heat off) just to keep it warm.1/2 cup parmesan, pecorino or Italian hard cheese*
- Drain the pasta, reserving a little bit of the cooking water, and add to the pan with the tomatoes. Toss through. Add some of the cooking water if things are too dry.
- Serve into bowls and top with a dollop of goats cheese, a handful of crispy sage and a drizzle of hot honey. Focus most of the honey directly on top of the goats cheese but you can go around the pasta a little if you like as well. Finally add the chili flakes, if you're using, and serve immediately.1/2 cup creamy goats cheese, 1 handful fresh sage leaves, 2-4 tbsp hot honey
