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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

Instructions

  1. Throw half a saucepan of water on to boil, adding a small shake of salt and/or olive oil to taste.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.