Fresh Linguine with Heirloom Tomato Sauce

An ideal main course for a romantic home-cooked dinner or a family meal, this Fresh Linguine with Heirloom Tomato Sauce is sure to impress. Heirloom tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and a special blend of spices come together perfectly for an irresistible sauce that pairs nicely with made-from-scratch noodles. Put your kitchen to good use by making this healthy yet hearty dish and see for yourself.

Ingredients

Heirloom Tomato Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large shallots, sliced thin
• 2-3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/4 teaspoon dry thyme leaves)
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or to taste
• fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
• about 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely cut

Fresh Pasta Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

Make the Sauce

Heat saucepan on medium high heat. Add oil then shallots and garlic. Cook until slightly brown and fragrant.

Add chopped tomatoes, sugar, thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Bring sauce to low simmer and reduce heat to maintain the low simmer.

Cook sauce for about 20 minutes. Keep sauce warm (preferably using the ExtraLow® function) while making the pasta, or store the sauce covered in the refrigerator and heat when ready to serve.

Make the Pasta

Pile the flour on your working surface and make a well in the middle of the pile (large enough to fit the eggs, oil, and water).

Add the eggs, oil, and water into the well, and with a fork gradually whisk from the center of the well outward, whisking the flour into the liquid ingredients. Keep whisking in the flour until the dough starts to hold together in a single mass.

At this point begin folding in the remaining flour using your hands and a dough scraper (bench knife) to scrape any dough sticking to the surface or your hands. Knead the dough until it it feels smooth (about 5 minutes), adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Shape the dough into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes – 1 hour to let the dough relax.

Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Shape the first piece of dough into an oval nearly as wide as your pasta roller (cover the remaining dough pieces with a towel to keep from drying out).

Set your pasta roller to its widest setting. Keeping the dough and surface lightly floured, pass the dough through the pasta roller. Fold the dough in thirds, keeping the dough roughly a rectangle. Press the rectangle thinner so that it can pass through the pasta roller without bunching up.

Lightly dust the dough again with flour. Reduce the pasta roller setting to the next widest setting and pass the dough through the rollers again. Repeat dusting with flour and rolling the pasta, progressively reducing the pasta roller settings, one setting at a time (don’t get impatient and skip settings).

<strong>Cooking tip:</strong> As the dough gets thinner, drape the dough sheets over the back of your hand to feed it through the rollers to keep from puncturing the dough with your fingertips).

When the dough reaches your desired thickness (normally about the 3rd or 4th thinnest setting), lay the dough sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into your desired pasta length (for linguine it’s usually about 1-foot long). Either cut the dough sections with the fettuccine/linguine pasta cutter attachment or cut into noodle strands with a wheel or knife by hand. Gently toss the noodles with a bit of flour and set them aside in a light pile. Repeat the rolling and cutting with the remaining 3 dough pieces.

Cover the noodles with a dry towel, set aside and cook within 1 hour or refrigerate them for up to 4 hours. You can also freeze them for up to a month in a zip-lock and then take the pasta straight from the freezer to the boiling pasta water.

When Ready to Serve

Reheat the sauce, if needed. If desired, warm your serving plates or platter (if you don’t have a warming drawer, the Proof function on your Thermador oven also works great to warm plates before serving).

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Boil the pasta for about 1 minute or until the pasta is tender. Using spider strainer or tongs, remove the pasta from the water and divide between the warm plates. Serve with the sauce, garnished with fresh basil. Enjoy!

Recipe from our friends at Thermador.