Recipe: Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Fettuccine
Goat cheese is a one-ingredient shortcut in this seriously decadent sauce and easy weeknight pasta.
Serves4 to 6
Remember those sun-dried tomatoes lurking in the back of your pantry? Isn’t there a hunk of goat cheese somewhere in the fridge? Now’s the time to grab both of those ingredients because together they make this creamy, dreamy weeknight pasta that’s proudly all frills and no fuss.
A Quick Cream Sauce, Thanks to Goat Cheese
The highlight of this recipe is the creamy sauce that comes together almost instantly, thanks to soft goat cheese. Instead of simmering cream and butter together to make a sauce, pasta water and crumbled goat cheese are quickly stirred together in the same skillet used to sauté the pasta’s aromatics to make a cream sauce. Yep, it’s actually that easy! It’s as rich as a classic cream sauce, but easier to assemble and arguably more interesting, thanks to the cheese’s bright, tangy flavor.
You can go a step further with a seared chicken breast, crumbled bacon, or a handful of spinach, but sometimes your night calls for a bowl of hot, creamy pasta you can whip up in 20 minutes, and this is exactly that.
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Fettuccine
Goat cheese is a one-ingredient shortcut in this seriously decadent sauce and easy weeknight pasta.
Serves 4 to 6
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1 pound
dried fettuccine
- 1 cup
thinly sliced dry sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed)
- 2 tablespoons
olive oil
- 4 cloves
garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon
fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon
red pepper flakes
- 4 ounces
fresh goat cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the fettuccine and set a timer for 3 minutes less than al dente, about 7 minutes or according to package instructions. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and continue to cook until the pasta is al dente, about 3 minutes more. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and tomatoes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet until shimmering. Add the garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
Add the 1/2 cup of pasta water and goat cheese, and stir until melted. Add the pasta and tomatoes and toss to combine and evenly coat the pasta in the sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Recipe Notes
Sun-dried tomatoes: There are 2 types of sun-dried tomatoes: dry and packed in oil. This recipe uses the dry ones.
Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.