Mondays are the worst…especially this Monday. The only good part of today was about five minutes ago when I gorged myself with various kinds of chocolate. It kind of made my day a little better. If you’re off to a bad start yourself, I’ve got just the thing you need. No, it doesn’t involve eating chocolate candy bars. It’s actually quite healthy and fresh and will leave you feeling good about yourself. So plan a night this week to make this pasta dish…it will certainly brighten things up for you. If that doesn’t do the trick, I know these will.
Last week, one of my Dad’s very close friends gave him a box of Jersey Tomatoes and Jersey Peaches. His friend is very close with the owner of a local farm, so he always gets us Jersey produce. Every summer we get a ridiculous amount of blueberries from them and we always manage to eat them all! So, anyway, my Mom let me take the tomatoes and peaches home with me so I decided to make a dinner featuring jersey tomatoes and peaches!
I decided that I wanted to make a pasta dish with all of the tomatoes, so I went to my favorite store in South Jersey, Severino Pasta, to pick up some of the best freshly made Fettuccine. Fresh Fettuccine is not completely necessary to make this recipe, but using fresh pasta makes everything so much better! This dish is so simple, yet so flavorful. It is so easy to put together and would be perfect for a weeknight dinner or entertaining.
To begin our dinner, I made a Tomato & Mozzarella Salad which I served with a fresh loaf of bread. I used a fresh ball of Mozzarella that I got from Severino Pasta. This salad was so simple to put together. Slice fresh mozzarella and fresh tomato, clean basil, arrange on platter, drizzle with olive oil and season with kosher salt and pepper.
The main event was definitely the Fettuccine with Jersey Tomatoes, Basil, Goat Cheese, and Toasted Breadcrumbs. Everything about this pasta was absolutely awesome. Everything in this dish was so fresh and flavorful. I just love the combination of the fresh tomatoes with goat cheese, basil, and breadcrumbs. All of the flavors and textures mesh together so well. Everyone loved this dish and we polished off the whole thing!
fettuccine with jersey tomatoes, basil, goat cheese, and toasted breadcrumbs
serves 4.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh pasta (I used Fettuccine)
- 5 Tbl. Olive Oil
- 4 shallots, minced
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- ~8 jersey tomatoes, chopped small (~4 cups)
- Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/4 cup Basil, chiffonade
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 4 oz. Goat Cheese
- 1 cup toasted breadcrumbs
- Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium-heat. Once the oil is heated, add the shallots and let cook for 3-5 minutes.
- Add the minced and sliced garlic and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place 1 cup of breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and toss with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook in oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and reserve.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan, and allow to cook down just a little bit. You don’t want your tomatoes to cook down completely. Lower the heat if necessary. Season with salt, pepper, & crushed red pepper flakes (to your liking).
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water, and cook the pasta according to package directions or if your using fresh pasta 2-3 minutes.
- Drain pasta and add to pot with tomatoes. Incorporate the ingredients together. Stir in half of the basil and parsley and about 1 oz of the goat cheese.
- Transfer pasta to serving bowl. Top with remaining basil, parsley, and goat cheese. Top with toasted breadcrumbs. Serve.
Check back to see what I did with all of those peaches!
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