• 6 - 7 cloves of garlic, rough chop
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup feta cheese, cubed
• 1/3 cup dry sherry
• large handful of fresh basil (from your own garden, come on)
• olive oil & butter
• chopped chives
• simple greens or bitter, for salad
• large handful of fresh cilantro (from same garden)
• ground cayenne pepper, to taste
• nutmeg, a few good dashes
• white pepper, same
• sugar, 2 teaspoons
• s & p
Add some light & extra virgin olive oil in a steel pan together, once heated (4) add garlic and toast them nice and golden...but don't burn! Add onion when color looks like above. If too hot add half the sherry and let it become translucent. Add the sun-dried tomatoes first, then the raw after a few minutes when the pan is nice and dry. Drop in 3 pats of butter & let them melt. Add the rest of the sherry and all the spices: sugar, cayenne, nutmeg, white pepper, and s&p.
Once water is boiling, add salt and the pasta. Pick something bite size, we had O's and that seemed perfect. The sauce should be starting to get sticky, keep it stirred every once in while to scrape the bottom...don't burn it, keep it riding the evaporation/reduction wave.
Once pasta is al dente, drop in a cup to a cup and a half of pasta water into your sauce. Stir well & scrape up ovalit. Put in the pasta and then the basil, coat well. Place in bowl and fold in feta. Serve ASAP with the simple greens tossed with rough chopped cilantro. Coat the salad with plain ol' olive oil, red wine vinegar, s & fresh ground p.
Oy, just writing this makes me want to go raid the fridge for some more.
