Monday, June 2, 2008

Penne with Rosemary Cream Sauce

Another recipe from Intercourses. Penne with Rosemary Cream Sauce. Yes. It was good. No. I won't make it again -- not without some major rewriting. It was easy. That was a definite plus. It was filling and satisfying. But it could have been so much more.




This stage where I'm sauteing the rosemary in the olive oil was my favorite. I should have followed my gut instincts. It was fragrant and earthy. It filled the kitchen with a comforting aroma.

But then,

The tomato paste/puree. Too much. Too overpowering. Too tomato-ey.


I ended up adding more cream to the sauce to try to thin it out so that the sauce wouldn't have a paste consistency. I didn't have enough cream.

It plated well. In case you're wondering, that "thing" next to the pasta was chicken feta and spinach sausage grilled in the grill pan.

A and J liked it. J more so than A. Hubby said he liked it - going for two heaping servings. For me, the tomato was just too much. It overpowered the rosemary. It wasn't creamy enough. It coated the pasta too thickly. What I should have done was, if I were to put tomatoes in it at all, I would add some petite cut tomatoes at the last phase, just to add a little bite to the sauce. I would have focused more on rosemary by adding some minced garlic and whisking in some butter into the hot oil. Perhaps not even adding the cream. Making more of an olio e aglio sauce. Maybe just cut in some rosemary towards the end, instead of infusing the olive oil in the beginning.

Any aphrodisiac qualities? Again, no. I will not give up trying, though.

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5 comments:

Chocolate Britches said...

Hi, thanks for your comment on my blog. Quite a buzz to know someone all the way from Ohio has read it! I love the food network too. Good luck with your cooking.

Christina said...

Looks good, but with your revisions, it sounds like it will be great!

Jean Z. said...

Thanks for stopping by Chocolate and Christina. Stay tuned for more posts! ... Jean

Terry at Blue Kitchen said...

A great post! I'm always happy to find food bloggers who are willing to post things that didn't go quite as expected and say how they would fix it next time. That's part of the whole cooking process to me.

As I was reading your post, I was making the same changes in my head that you said you would do if making it again--just rosemary, garlic and maybe some chopped fresh tomato, quickly sautéed in olive oil and maybe a little butter, then tossed with cooked pasta. That would make for a delicious pasta side dish.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Terry -- great minds and all that, huh? I'm looking forward to posting more "trials" again soon.