Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta

Tomatoes + cream = <3

What is it about the combination of tomatoes and something creamy that makes me so happy? Tomato mayo sandwiches in late summer are perfection. And I've invented a ketchup-mayo condiment (Tomayo) that I'm going to bottle and sell some day that's awesome for dipping fries in.

So when I came across this recipe for Creamy Tomato Pasta from Kitchen Trial and Error, I had to try it. It was actually the first tomato sauce I've made from fresh instead of canned tomatoes.

Ingredients

Tomato sauce:

• 1 1/2 lbs. Fresh tomatoes (about 9)
• 1 Onion, small diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup Basil, minced
• To taste, Olive oil

Alfredo sauce:

• 1 tbsp. Butter
• 2 tsp. Flour
• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup Half & Half
• 2 cloves Garlic, whole, peeled, crushed
• 1 cup Parmesan, grated

1/2 lb. Macaroni (like Kate from Kitchen Trial and Error, I chose Farfalle, which is my favorite for pink sauces).

Directions

Put the water on for the pasta.

Score the bottom of the tomatoes. This makes them easier to peel once they're blanched. 

Blanch the tomatoes for 1 minute in boiling water, and quickly remove. Let them cool enough where you can handle them.

Peel the tomatoes, which will be much easier now that they've been blanched,

and chop into quarters or eighths. 

In a medium saucepan, sweat the onions and garlic about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add the tomatoes

Now you can either leave it chunky, or blend it if, like me, you like a smoother texture.

Let it thicken while you start the alfredo. For that, start by melting butter in a small saucepan.

Whisk in the flour until blended

I think everyone needs to have a whisk this tiny. 

Cook until it's slightly browned, about 2 minutes.

Add in the milk, half and half and garlic, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Whisk constantly while simmering, about 2 minutes, until it's pretty thick. Remove the garlic cloves, and add in the parmesan. Remove from heat.

The original recipe says to add in 1/3 cup of the pasta water to thin out the alfredo, but I found that using fresh tomatoes makes this unnecessary. The tomato sauce, no matter how long I let it thicken, was just thinner that I liked, so when combined with the thick alfredo, it was the exact consistency I was going for. Still, to be on the safe side, I'd reserve a bit of the pasta water to the side in case you do end up feeling that it needs it.

Add the basil to the tomato sauce.

Drain the pasta and add the alfredo sauce,

then the tomato sauce, and mix well. Et voila! So good left over too.

I'm not super thrilled with the pictures from this recipe, so for that I apologize. Part of it was because it was getting dark out, and my pictures always come out better in daytime because I refuse to use a flash. Another part was that I was rushing a bit, since I didn't leave myself a whole lot of time for this one. I promise pics from the next post will be a lot more mouth-watering ! :P