Ingredients
4 large tomatoes, chopped (no need to peel or seed)
1 medium garlic clove, pressed
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
Salt, and fresh ground pepper to taste (go light on the pepper)
16 oz Linguine or Tagliatelle
½ stick of butter
1 pint of light cream
1 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Salt and white pepper to taste
Very small pinch of nutmeg
¼ cup or less of chopped fresh parsley (regular parsley - not flat leaf)
Preparation
Put water on to boil for pasta. Chop the fresh tomatoes and basil and combine with salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic. Allow mixture to sit un-refrigerated while making pasta and sauce.
Start the alfredo sauce approx 6 - 8 minutes before the pasta will be finished.
Alfredo Sauce: Melt the butter in a large sauté pan. Add cream and bring to a simmer, whisking over low to med-low heat. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer, whisking for several minutes. Remove pan from heat and add cheese, a bit at a time. The cheese should melt into the sauce. Only add enough cheese until the sauce is as thick as you want and serve the rest of the cheese on the side. Drain the pasta (reserve some of the water). Add the pasta to the sauté pan and coat with the sauce. Toss in enough parsley just for a bit of color. Allow the pasta to absorb the sauce for a minute. If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it with a bit of the reserved pasta water. Otherwise, discard the water.
Note: You want to make an Alfredo Sauce that’s just a bit thinner than what you’d make if you were preparing Fettucine Alfredo.
After coating the pasta with the alfredo sauce and putting into a serving bowl, spoon the tomatoes and basil over the dish (including the juice from the tomatoes). The juice from the tomatoes mixes with the alfredo sauce and creates a wonderfully flavorful dish.
Serve pasta immediately with additional grated cheese, salt and fresh ground black pepper on the side.
