Fettuccine With Tomato-Cream Sauce CL 8/12

[rjbq]

Has anybody else tried this recipe from the August issue?

I prepared this for the second time and while both were flavorful, I'm not sure about what should be the proper consistency.

My first attempt pretty much failed because I didn't fully read the recipe. Whole peeled tomatoes were not on hand but since they were supposed to be crushed, I used a can of crushed tomatoes. After adding the pasta water, the whole thing was very soupy.

My next attempt was with drained and crushed (with a potato masher) whole tomatoes, as required. But I didn't add the pasta water because I thought it would again be very soupy.

Maybe it is supposed to be that way?

Either way, we all enjoyed the flavor and I will continue to work with it. Your comments would be appreciated.

Richard

Fettuccine With Tomato-Cream Sauce

8 ounces uncooked fettuccine $
4 quarts boiling water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil $
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed
3 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup oil-cured olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup small fresh basil leaves
1/2 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved

1. Cook pasta in 4 quarts boiling water with 1/4 teaspoon salt for 8 minutes or until noodles are almost al dente. Drain pasta through a sieve over a bowl; reserve 1 1/3 cups pasta cooking water.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes or until very fragrant and tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and tomatoes; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in reserved 1 1/3 cups pasta water; bring to a boil. Add cream cheese; stir until smooth. Add pasta, olives, and red pepper; cook 3 minutes or until pasta is al dente, tossing to coat. Divide pasta mixture among 4 shallow bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon basil. Divide Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly among servings.

Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light
AUGUST 2012

[mrswaz]

That sounds lovely! I haven't tried it, but I will be doing so in the near future, with some adaptations.

The tomatoes are just beginning to come in from the garden, so my big change will be to make it with fresh tomatoes. I will use fresh tomatoes- with their juices, and then reduce the pasta water, which leads me to...

That's a lot of pasta water. When I add pasta water to a pasta recipe, it's usually just half a cup or so. You add pasta water to loosen up the sauce a bit, and also the starches in the pasta water help give sauces a more velvety consistency. So I would start by adding just a drizzle of the pasta water, and add more as desired.

It must be flavorful if you've made it twice now!

[mkc]

I agree that it's a lot of pasta water. Perhaps a typo in the recipe? I could see using 1/3 cup, just enough to loosen the tomato mix.

It does sound good, too! Thanks for posting.

Michelle

[MSFrost]

I made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing. Here's what I did:

1) Put the red pepper flakes in with the garlic and EVOO. Used 1/2 more red pepper flakes.

2) Do not drain the tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes from the can one-by-one and save the tomato liquid. With the back of the fork, smash each tomato after they've cooked for a minute or two. Add little bits of the tomato juice back to the pan as it cooks - judiciously!

3) I used 2/3 c. of the pasta water and cooked it down a bit more ~ 4 minutes or so.

4) Then add 3 oz of cream cheese.

It was perfect! So much so, we threw in a glass of red to drink.

Will definitely make this again. Super delicious and affordable.

[rjbq]

I made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing.

Thanks for the idea. I'll try that next time...and there will be a next time.

Richard