Fetuccini In Tomato Cream Sauce

Sarah recently asked me for a fettuccini with chicken recipe, although this doesn’t exactly meet her request, it is one of my favorite recipes for fettuccini; it takes only minutes to prepare and is very tasty. This is a sauce that tastes best freshly made because of the egg. A lighter version can be made by using half and half and egg whites. Read the recipe through once before you try to prepare it so that you understand the subtleties.

1 pound linguine or fettuccini pasta
2 tablespoons of olive oil1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed or finely chopped
8 oz of chopped Pancetta or Prosciutto (optional)
Pinch of crushed red pepper
5 medium to large tomatoes skinned and chopped (you can substitute canned) Handful of fresh basil chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
1 egg beaten (or two egg whites)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1lb of chopped grilled chicken breast (optional)
Salt to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add linguine. Cook about 1 minute less than package instructs, this is because you will be cooking it again later. Strain it, drizzle a little olive oil over it and toss, set it to one side. Combine parmesan cheese and cream to the beaten egg and mix.

Meanwhile, sauté onion in olive oil in a heavy skillet until in begins to turn light brown, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, pancetta, and the crushed red pepper; allow to sauté for another minute, be careful not to burn. Now add tomatoes, basil and salt, reduce heat and simmer about 7 minutes, stir every few minutes.

Reduce sauce to low heat, and allow it to cool. Add pasta toss it thoroughly (if your pasta has cooled, make sure it heats through), if you are using chicken add it now. Now beat the egg mixture again and slowly pour it over the pasta mixing the pasta, sauce and egg mixture evenly. The sauce should evenly coat the pasta.

Serve immediately with extra parmesan cheese.