Lemon Fettucine with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I was sitting at my desk wondering what to make for dinner last night when I saw a really nice picture of "Lemon Spaghetti" on Tastespotting from the blog Plum Pie.  I had been thinking about making some sort of pasta and this just seemed like a nice, fresh, vegetarian option.  Best of all, we had all of the ingredients in the fridge or the cabinet.  So I sent the link to Alex and told him that he was in charge of dinner since I was going to be home late.  When I got home, the pasta was just about ready to serve - all we had to do was toss the sauce and pasta together and make dress the arugula salad.  Alex and I are in disagreement about this recipe.  I feel like that is happening more often of late.  He really liked the pasta.  He loves lemons.  He sucks on lemon wedges  I would never do that.  I find lemons overwhelmingly sour.  Anyway, I found the pasta to be a little... harsh.  Harsh isn't exactly the right word, but I'm not sure what other word to use.  There was a lot of acidity from the lemon juice and the slow roasted tomatoes.  The whole dish just seemed acidic and a little one dimensional for me.  I wish there had been a bit more basil flavor.  And while I generally love crushed red pepper flakes in pastas, I didn't care for them here.  They also contributed to the harshness for me.  And as for the slow roasted tomatoes, I think they would have been better if we had removed the seeds and roasted them for just a few more minutes to dry them out a little more.  I wish I got more of the flavor from the basil.  I didn't think it came through enough for me.  If I could start over from scratch, I would make the Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil instead because I found them to be somewhat comparable vegetarian pasta dishes that you can throw together with your pantry staples, and yet the Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil was just so much better.

Recipe after the jump!

Lemon Fettucine with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Adapted from Plum Pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb fettucine
1/2 cup evoo
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup basil, cut into a thin chiffonade

1 cup Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Place red pepper flakes and garlic in a bowl.  Gently heat evoo until warm. Pour over red pepper flakes and garlic and let steep for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat.  Season very generously with salt.  Cook pasta until tender but still a little firm to the bite according to package instructions.  Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

Add lemon juice to garlic-pepper oil and whisk to combine.  Toss with hot pasta, Parm-Reg, and basil.  Add pasta water 1/4 cup at a time if necessary to create the sauce. Top with slow roasted tomatoes. 

Garnish with lemon zest and additional Parm-Reg.


Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:
1 pint cherry tomatoes (we have also roasted Roma tomatoes and those might be even better)
evoo
s&p
5 garlic cloves
1 tsp fresh rosemary or thyme, minced

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.

Halve cherry tomatoes and place on a rimmed baking sheet, cut side up.  Drizzle with evoo and sprinkle lightly with s&p and fresh herbs.  Bake tomatoes until they are shriveled and dry, about 3 hours.