Fettuccine with Red Wine Sauce

Sorry for the delay! December was busy and we went down to Florida for a week between Christmas and New Year's. Now winter has descended on New York and it's freezing. Nice, cozy pasta dishes sound so appealing, which could also partially be because... I'm pregnant! Jamie and I are expecting a little girl at the end of May. SO so excited! Probably fewer cocktail recipes on here for a few months...

My missing red wine may have played a role in this recipe's invention. Over the summer, my friend Kara and I had dinner at Ciccio and had this great red wine pasta. I'd been wanting to try to recreate it and tried tonight. Yum! It's really simple and goes perfectly with good, fresh pasta. It's a somewhat subtle sauce, but again, with fresh pasta you don't need too much. I served it with lots of grated pecorino and cracked black pepper. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used a bordeaux that was leftover from a party)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp butter

fresh fettuccine

Directions:

Pour the wine and stock into a sauce pan. 

Add the crushed garlic and bring to a boil. 

Reduce to a lively simmer and cook down until it has thickened and you have about 1/2 cup. Remove the garlic and whisk in the tomato paste. 

The sauce will thicken. Turn off heat while you make the pasta. 

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and salt it. Throw in the fresh pasta. 

Meanwhile, turn the heat to low on the sauce pan and whisk in the butter. 

Season to taste with salt and freshly cracked pepper. 

Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain the pasta. 

Pour the pasta directly into the sauce pan and warm through on low while tossing. Add pasta water as needed to loosen up the sauce. 

Plate it and top with Pecorino and freshly ground black pepper.