Fettuccine in Roasted Garlic Tomato & Wine Sauce

When it comes to cooking Pasta, I love experimenting with the ingredients that I have at home, but every once in a while, I am excited to cook a great pasta recipe which calls for elaborate groundwork and some planning, just because the end result will also be as beautiful and tasty as your efforts! Like this gorgeous Spinach Fettucine, cooked in fragrant Roasted Garlic Tomato and Champagne sauce! Just the ingredients can get your mouth to water, and though I generally stick to white wine in my pasta dinners, my friend Meeta’s call for Champagne for her Monthly Mingle set me to tweak my recipe a bit to suit the celebration. I’m also sending this to Kirsten, who is hosting this week’s edition for Presto Pasta Nights!This recipe uses home-made Sun-dried tomato and garlic pesto, which is them mixed with some smoked Roasted cherry tomatoes, tossed with the flavorful Spinach fettuccine. A few sprigs of Rosemary and a generous sprinkling of Pine Nuts & fresh Parmesan Origiano, and you are good to delve into Pasta Heaven!

Spinach Fettuccine in Roasted Tomato Garlic and Champagne Sauce

Ingredients
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion – finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves – minced
1 tspn fresh lemon juice
freshly ground pepper – to taste
salt – to taste
2 tbsp champagne (or any sparkling wine) (optional)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup parmesan cheese – freshly grated
1/2 pound spinach fettuccine

Sun-dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto
3 cloves of roasted garlic
2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp pine nuts
1 tbsp olive oil

Method
Roast the garlic cloves and pine-nuts separately, then grind it along with the sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil to make a smooth pesto.

Cook the spinach fettuccine in boiling water with 1 tbsp olive oil until tender.

Gently grease the cherry tomatoes with olive oil and line them in a baking tray. Now roast at 250 deg F for about 7-8 mins, until lightly smoked and skin appears a little roasted/browned.

Saute the chopped onion in oil until tender and glossy. Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and champagne to the wok. Let it simmer for 5 more minutes. Now add the roasted garlic and sun-dried tomato paste to this and mix well.

Add the roasted cherry tomatoes to this mixture. Lower the flame and cover with a lid. Let the tomatoes soak in the wine and garlic, but do not let them become mushy and overcooked. Season with rosemary and sprinkle more roasted pine nuts on the top if you like.

Spread the cooked pasta on a plate. Top it with a generous helping of the sauce. Season with some more salt and pepper if needed; then top with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese!

This Spinach Fettuccine pasta recipe is a definite winner, and is guaranteed to woo your family or friends. Even kids would love it – feel free to replace the Champagne with any non-alcoholic beverage, or skip it altogether. Substituting with white wine, or even Pommac might be a good idea too!