Smoked Bullets
Pork and cheese filled bacon-wrapped pasta tubes are all the rage when cooked on the smoker. Smoked Bullet Shells always get gobbled up - make sure you have enough!
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 1174kcal
Equipment
- Traeger pellet smoker or other smoker
- Pellets
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 10 ounces rigatoni pasta
- 1 pound lean ground pork
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 pound bacon
- 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and par-cook the rigatoni for few minutes until just starting to get soft, about 6 minutes. Then drain them and chill them with cold running water.
- Add the ground pork, cheese, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and black pepper to a food processor and pulse until well combined and almost like a paste.
- Stuff about a teaspoon (maybe a bit more depending on the actual size of your noodles) with the pork filling. See my tips below for hints on how to make this easier.
- Cut the bacon slices into about thirds, then wrap each stuffed rigatoni with 1/3 of a slice of bacon.
- Smoke the bacon-wrapped rigatoni pasta on a rack over a baking sheet on your smoker set to 250-F for about an hour.
- Turn the heat up to 400F (or as high as it'll go) and cook them for about 20 minutes until crispy. Or, pop them onto a hot Blackstone griddle or even a skillet on the stovetop to crisp the bacon a bit.
- Brush the Smoked Bullet Shells and drop the heat to 250-F and smoke for another 15 minutes or until the BBQ sauce is glossy and tacky.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Serving: 8bullets | Calories: 1174kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 99g | Saturated Fat: 39g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 43g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 1303mg | Potassium: 408mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 254IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 170mg | Iron: 2mg