Pesto Alfredo Pasta

With Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes, and Spinach

When I first made this recipe, I had an idea with what I wanted the finished product to taste like, but I didn't have any instructions to get there. You'll notice that a lot of the ingredients don't really have any amounts or measurements. I made this recipe using a full box of fettuccine and I created the sauce around having that much pasta and basically just eyeballed all the measurements. A lot of these ingredients, like the tomatoes and onions, I just love, so I probably added more than the average person would. If I were cooking it for more than just myself I would probably use half an onion and a pint of tomatoes.

For presentation I liked to use multiple colors of tomatoes. I got mine at my super target. You can see them here. I just really love the color it adds and the contrast it brings to the spinach and the neutral pasta and sauce. You'll also notice I didn't give a specific brand of pesto in my ingredients, I mention it in the directions, but I really like Buitoni's pesto. Here's the link

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Onions
• Grape Tomatoes
• Spinach
• Fettuccine

Sauce

• 8 tbsp / 4 tbsp Butter
• ½ c. / ¼ c.Flour
• Basil to taste
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1 ½ c. or until desired consistency Half & Half
• Water 1 tsp or until desired consistency
• 1 cup shredded, Parmesan
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• Pesto (buitoni)

Directions

1. In a saucepan caramelize the onions. In a separate pot, boil water with a tsp. of salt
2. After the onions have been sweated - add the grape tomatoes (halved). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook on low heat stirring occasionally.
3. After the water has been boiled add the fettuccine and cook according to box instructions.
4. Drain the pasta and set aside. In the pot used for pasta, melt 8 tbsps of butter (4 tbsp for half a box of pasta). Once melted, mix in flour. I typically do this using a whisk, but you can use whatever you’d like. Continue stirring until the butter/flour mixture turns a light golden brown.
5. Once the light golden brown is achieved, pour in Half & Half. Once it’s mixed in, you might need to thin it a little. Feel free to add water until it gets to your desired sauce consistency.
6. Add in parmesan and mix until melted. I happened to only have about a cup on hand, but if you really love a cheesy sauce, feel free to add more! (I won’t judge. ;)
7. At this point I tasted my sauce and I felt it was a little heavy, so I used 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to cut through and lighten the sauce. I promise you won’t get a weird vinegar taste to it! (Unless you add too much of course.) If you’re worried, start off in small measurements.
8. At this point, your tomatoes are nice and reduced and your onions are caramelized. Add in spinach. I used a lot of spinach (like five large handfuls) simply because I love spinach, but you can do less. Just remember that spinach shrinks down a lot.
9. Mix in pesto to your Alfredo sauce. I used about a half of a Buitoni pesto that I bought from the *fancy* cheese section at my super Target, but you can use any pesto, store bought or homemade.
10. You’re all done! When I prepared my dish I layered everything for presentation, but you can mix everything together if you wish. I had a little bit of leftover parmesan at the end, so I also sprinkled a little of it on top. Enjoy!