Recipe By Lynfred Brand Ambassador Laura Lorenz
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 lb. pasta, angel hair or thin spaghetti (you will only use about ¾ of the box)
1-pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 T tomato paste
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 Tl extra virgin olive oil
¼ c dry red wine*
1 T sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped (save some oil for a finishing drizzle)
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil
1 c whole milk ricotta*
½ c grated parmesan
½ c fresh basil, torn
Salt and pepper
½ c- 1c of pasta water
Toppings (highly recommended but optional)-crispy bacon or pancetta, ricotta, fresh basil, sun
dried tomato oil

Directions:
Put a large pot of water on to boil for pasta. In a separate large pan with sides, place olive oil and grape tomatoes over low-medium heat and cover. Move the pan around every few minutes so the tomatoes do not burn and cook for 12-15 minutes or until the tomatoes can be smashed with the back of a wooden spoon. Next, turn the heat to low, add the garlic, tomato paste, sun dried tomatoes, and dried herbs, cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously. After 1 minute, add the wine, ¼ tsp of kosher salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes.

While the sauce is cooking, make your cheese mixture by mixing in a bowl, the ricotta and parmesan; set aside. Next, salt your pasta water and cook the pasta to just shy of al dente (if using angel hair, this happens very fast). Reserve 1c of the pasta water (you may not use all of this) and drain the pasta. To the large pan with the tomatoes add the cheese mixture, ½ c of the pasta water, and the drained pasta. While the pan is over low-medium heat, toss the pasta until the cheese mixture blends with the tomato sauce and clings to the pasta. To create this beautiful, creamy, tomato sauce, you may need the additional ½ c of the pasta water. Be patient, it will come together; just keep tossing. I ended up using about ¾ c of the pasta water. Once the sauce is creamy and fully coating the pasta, stir in fresh basil.

Plating the pasta-I highly recommend sprinkling the top of your pasta with finely chopped crispy bacon, a dollop of ricotta, more fresh basil, and a little drizzle of the oil that the sun-dried tomatoes are packed in (trust me, you won’t regret this).

Enjoy!
*Homemade fresh ricotta is the best, but if you do not have the time just use a creamy full fat good quality
ricotta
*The WOM (Barbera) works great; or a lovely Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, or Syrah will also work