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8.06.2010

Fresh Tomato and Brie Sauce

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Before marrying my roomie for life, I shared an apartment with my good friend, Gretta.  Let me take a moment to tell you just a few reasons why Gretta is so great.  First of all, she's very considerate and tidy, which are two of the best possible qualities in a roommate.  Second, she would eagerly watch Project Runway with me...and then be able to sketch and sew her own gorgeous dresses.  (She's designing and sewing her own wedding dress, for Pete's sake!!) Thirdly, Gretta used to make this tomato sauce...  



Yum
Oh, this sauce.  Tomato, garlic, basil and brie.  What's not to love?  

 



Super quick and easy, this sauce is a perfect summer meal. Seriously, you can have it on the table in about 15 minutes...20 tops.  The beauty of this sauce is that it requires no stove top cooking...apart from boiling some water for the pasta.  You simply whizz all the ingredients in a food processor and spoon it over hot pasta.  The pasta warms the sauce and slightly melts the brie.  Simple and delicious.



When we received 4 tomatoes in our CSA shipment on Tuesday, I looked at those summer beauties and thought to myself...Gretta's sauce!!  This recipe will give you yet another reason to love summer tomatoes, food processors and good roommates.




Disclaimer: I have to admit, I learned how to make this dish by snooping over Gretta's shoulder in the kitchen. Fortunately, she made it pretty often, so I had many opportunities to master the steps by watching.  I don't have an exact recipe or set of directions, but I'm going to try to quantify my "usual" steps for making the dish.  Rest assured, though, it has always turned out just fine no matter the exact proportions I use...so make it your own!


Here ya go...


Fresh Tomato and Brie Sauce

I'm going to try to quantify this recipe as much as possible, but when I make it, I never measure anything.  I just start with  however many tomatoes I happen to have and then adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly.  So, feel free to adjust the amounts to your tastes and preferences!  I'm sure it will turn out deliciously. 

You'll need:

4 medium tomatoes -- any variety will work, as long as they're nicely ripened
1 -2 cloves of garlic*
a large handful of basil
5 oz of Brie, approximately (a little more or a little less will work just fine)
olive oil (you'll stream in about 2 Tbsp)
salt +  pepper, to taste
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pasta (I like to use either farfalle or linguine with this sauce)

*I'm really a huge fan of garlic and I usually put a lot in this sauce.  I was using fresh garlic this time, straight from the farmer and it was wonderfully strong, so 2 cloves were more than enough.  

Directions:

Begin by bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil.
While the water is heating up you can start on the sauce...

Slice the tomatoes into quarters, remove the seeds and core.  Toss them into a food processor with the garlic and basil.  (You can give a quick, very minimal chop to the garlic and basil before adding them to the processor, if you like.  The food processor is really going to do the work here, so don't bother chopping it finely at all.)

I use a sharp knife to remove the brie casing and then slice it (or pull it apart with my hands) into big chunks.  Toss those into the food processor.

Finally, add a generous pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. 

Close the lid, turn on the food processor and stream in the olive oil through the spout.  For this amount of tomatoes, I add about 2 Tbsp.  Let the machine go for about 5 - 10 seconds .  Turn it off, scrape down the edges and pulse it once or twice.  (Before pulsing again, taste it and see if you need to add any more salt or pepper.) Just let the sauce hang out until the pasta is ready -- don't transfer it to the refrigerator.  

Cook the pasta until it's the way you like it.  As soon as it's done, drain the pasta and spoon the sauce on top.  You want the pasta to be as hot as possible so that it can warm the sauce and slightly melt the brie.  

That's it.  Wasn't that easy?

6 comments:

  1. Wow, this sounds amazing. Do you think it would work with any other type of cheese?

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  2. Great question! I'm sure it would, but the nice thing about the brie is that it is already soft, so it melts really easily and lends some creaminess. Finely grated Parmesan would probably work ok too, but the result would be less creamy, I'd imagine. If you substituted another soft cheese it would have a similar result. If you do try another cheese, let me know how it turns out!

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  3. Love the blog! I love to cook now...I'm a food blog stalker.. and I have to say you were my inspiration. I had no interest in cooking until I met you... then my life changed with the chicken casserole! haha... and other experimental dishes.

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  4. Thanks, Kelly!! Awww...those were fun times :)

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  5. Okay, I tried this tonight with goat cheese instead of brie, and it was great! I think the garlic is key. I'm sure the brie will be great, too--will try that next.

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  6. You're spot on Jessica -- the garlic really does make it or break it. I'll have to try the goat cheese one day!!

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