Tomato Fettuccine with Basil and Brie.

With just a handful of ingredients, you can make a delicious fresh tomato sauce for pasta in 10 minutes flat.
There's a basic tomato rule of thumb when you're shopping at the supermarket: The smaller the tomato, the better, especially during the off-season. Larger tomatoes are picked while still green; if they were allowed to ripen on the vine (as all tomatoes would be in an ideal world), they'd bruise themselves under their own weight during shipping. Cherry tomatoes, on the other hand, are picked when much closer to fully ripe. Their small size means that even when ripe, they're tougher.*

Yield:
Makes 4 servings.
Category:
Pasta
Cuisine:
Italian

INGREDIENTS:

  • 8 ounces dry fettuccine or linguine pasta
  • 500 g cherry tomatoes, or substitute grape tomatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 3/4 cup cubed Brie, Feta, Bocconcini or other soft cheese
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Place pasta in a large skillet or sauté pan and cover with water and a big pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Boil until just shy of al dente, about 1 minute less than the package instructions recommend.

    Meanwhile, heat garlic and 4 tablespoons (60ml) olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until garlic is softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix well, and cook, stirring, until tomatoes begin to burst, about 10 minutes. You can help them along by pressing on them with the back of a wooden spoon as they soften.

    Continue to cook until sauce is rich and creamy, about 5 minutes longer. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

    When pasta is cooked, drain, reserving 1 cup (240ml) pasta water. Add pasta to sauce and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring and tossing constantly and adding reserved pasta water as necessary to adjust consistency to a nice, creamy flow. Remove from heat, stir in remaining 2 tablespoons (30ml) olive oil, and grate in a generous shower of Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately, passing extra Parmesan at the table.

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