Linguine with Goat Cheese, Bacon and Roasted Garlic

This is comfort food taken to a new level. A gourmet variation of macaroni and cheese. Good grub.

I made it a couple of weeks ago to go with a bottle-aged Bordeaux that Andrea Immer sent along in my wine club shipment. It got the highest rating possible from my other half: "I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life."

Linguine with Goat Cheese, Bacon and Roasted Garlic
Serves six.

12 ounces linguini pasta
1 head roasted garlic*
8 ounces fresh goat cheese
3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Bring a large pot of slated water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, chop 7 cloves of the roasted garlic, reserving the remainder for another use. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water. In a large bowl, toss the hot pasta with the garlic, bacon, goat cheese, Parmesan and 2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water, tossing well to melt the cheeses. Add more reserved pasta water if needed to make a "sauce" that clings to the pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the parsley, tossing to mix. Serve immediately.

* To roast garlic, remove some of the papery skin from a head of garlic and cut the top third off to expose the cloves. Place on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and seal the foil into a package. Bake at 350° until tender, about one hour. Allow to cool. When ready to use, simply squeeze the garlic from the root end to extract amount needed.