I'm a professional dancer, dance instructor, and choreographer, which means most the time my schedule is crazy at best and overwhelming at it's worst. It also means lots of late nights either teaching, running rehearsals, or long commute home. The last thing I usually want to do is cook, but this versatile pasta dish works great with whatever you have in your pantry, easy prep, and easy cooking, but the flavors in this pasta will make it seem like you were standing at the stove for hours!
The one ingredient that takes this dish from just "tomato paste and heavy cream" to "silky decadent sauce" is ROASTED GARLIC. Its easy to make, though it does take a bit of time to actually cook. But the subtle, buttery, slightly sweet flavor that the garlic brings to the sauce is next level when it comes to a late night dinner. Now if don't have the time or energy, this recipe will be just as yummy and I have made it countless times with fresh garlic or even jarred minced garlic in place of roasting it. But if you make the roasted garlic in advance and freeze or refrigerate it, then you'll have roasted garlic on hand to work with!
Check out the "Recipes" tab for a step by step instructions on making roasted garlic, and the "Home-Cook's Hangout" blog for some different ways to store it, use any leftovers, and even how to make garlic olive oil! Not into cooking with wine, don't have heavy cream on hand, or not into spice? Make modifications to suit your taste! Want some specific fool-proof modifications that you can use for any recipe? Check out "Home-Cooks Hangout" for an upcoming post about replacing "this" for "that"!
Happy Cooking!
Ingredients
1 head of roasted garlic
1/3 yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp salted butter
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/3 cup of dry white wine (sauvignon blanc is a great choice)
1/2 cup heavy cream
short pasta of choice (i had gemelli on hand, but any pasta will work)
Optional 1/4 cup reserved pasta water
1 tsp red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
fresh or dried parsley, to serve
freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
1 tsp dried oregano
optional pinch of sugar (to cut acidity of tomato paste)
grated parmeasan cheese, to serve
Directions:
Prep the onion and garlic. Finely dice onion and garlic. If using roasted garlic, smash into paste
In a medium pot, bring water to a boil before adding gemelli, or pasta of choice and salt.
Remember to reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water, it is not required but will help create a smooth, silky sauce and help to thin the sauce if it gets too thick without losing its flavor.
Once the pasta is drained, add the olive oil and onion into the pot, cooking until the onion is translucent. Add in the garlic and cook for an additional minute, until fragrant.
Add in the wine and stir, cooking down the wine until majority of the liquid is gone.
Add the tomato paste, optional sugar, oregano, salt, and pepper, red pepper flakes, and mix, allowing the tomato paste to darken slightly (takes about 5 minutes)
Add in the heavy cream and parm cheese, stirring until completely incorporated before adding in the pasta
Give everything a mix, pour into onto a bowl or plate, add some extra parm, and enjoy!