Fettucini with Goat's Cheese
I ended up whipping this one up while in New York for work,
after a day's worth of wandering the streets of Manhattan
and around Central Park, and a real craving for home-cooked
food. It has quite a soft flavour to start with, but ends
with a sharp chilli kick.
I saw a wedge of Drunken Goat
cheese at a local supermarket, which guided the rest of the
ingredient hunting. Found a nice bottle of Cab Sav over the
road to go with it.. and the rest is dinner.
Ingredients
- 300g of tricolour fettucini, fresh
- Handful of basil leaves, probably 15-20
- 450g tin of crushed tomatoes
- 125g of Drunken Goat cheese
- 100g or so of baby spinach leaves
- 1 red capsicum
- 1 Habanero chilli
- 4 cloves of garlic
- Bottle of a good, dry Cabernet Sauvignon
Instructions
-
Throw half a saucepan of water on to boil, adding a small
shake of salt and/or olive oil to taste.
-
Start preparing the ingredients. Chop the capsicum into
fine pieces, about 5mm x 10mm or to taste. The size doesn't
matter too much, as long as you don't have to chew on the
capsicum.
-
Wash and tear (or chop) the basil leaves coarsely - they'll
cook down in the tomato mixture later on. Also, chop the
Habanero finely, removing the top. Set the chilli side for
later use. Don't worry too much about the heat - it gives a
sharp kick, but dissipates rather quickly in the sauce.
-
Once the water is boiled, throw in the fettucini. Make sure
to separate the strands with a fork, and be sure to open
the wine, pouring yourself a glass. Finely chop four
cloves of garlic.
-
While the pasta's cooking, wash and loosely tear the baby
spinach. Grab out the goat's cheese, and chop into fairly
fine pieces. This should be pretty easy - the Drunken Goat
will hold together very well, despite being a soft cheese.
-
Once the pasta is cooked (5-10 mins for fresh fettucini),
drain it and set it aside in a bowl. Be sure to toss it as
to not let the strands stick together too much.
-
Wash the saucepan and give it a quick dry, then return the
pan to a medium heat. Once dry, add a splash of the olive
oil, and add the finely-chopped garlic. Stir frequently,
letting the garlic become fragrant but not burnt. Before
the garlic is fully cooked, add the diced habanero - you
might want to stand back, as the vapours can be quite
strong. Once lightly cooked, add the tinned tomato, and mix
well.
-
Keep the saucepan up on a medium-high heat, until the tomato
mixture starts bubbling. Add the torn basil - tearing it
instead of chopping will bruise it slightly, letting out more
of the flavour. Keep stirring, and add the diced capsicum.
-
Let the sauce cook for another minute or so before adding a
healthy splash of red wine - Cab Sav will probably go best
with this sauce. Keep on a medium heat for a few minutes,
then add the spinach.
-
After the spinach is in, cook for another minute or two,
then add a couple of more fine pieces of goat's cheese.
Stir the cheese through, and serve.