Sun-dried tomato and goat cheese pasta

I'm kicking butt at the meal for one
It's rare for me to try a recipe for the first time and succeed. My first attempt is usually a mess, I'm always missing an ingredient and many times I have failed spectacularly (I'm talking to you, chicken and millet dish that I had to eat for about two weeks).

Usually I fail because inevitably I make changes to the recipe, often times adding too much of one thing and not enough of another. And, as I've mentioned, I'm trying to make single servings, which is what causes me to add too much of one thing and not enough of another.

However, this recipe for pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese is an exception.

My first try was spectacular, and I'm not too modest to say it! Most of the ingredients are pantry items, things that I usually have around anyways, and it's a fast dish to make. Of course, I still made a few modifications (I can't leave well enough alone).


I started by putting on a pot of water to boil the pasta (add salt to the water, this will come in handy later). Then I sauteed a small bit of sliced onions (this is a little less than a quarter of a fairly large onion) in olive oil with a little bit of anchovy paste (so much easier to deal with than anchovy fillets). Anchovies are my addition to the recipe, I thought it would give it a little extra flavor. I also sliced the onions because I like how it mimics the noodle length.


After the onions have softened a bit, I added chopped garlic and the sun-dried tomatoes (roughly four to five, thinly sliced). Then I added about a quarter cup of chicken stock instead of wine (because that's what I had on hand) and let that simmer.


After the pasta of your choice (linguine for me) has cooked, transfer it immediately to the sauce (keep the cooking liquid!). Add the goat cheese (I added about 1 oz, which if I had read the recipe properly, was too much if I was dividing the recipe by four, but that's okay because it turned out great and I love goat cheese). Carefully mix to melt the goat cheese. If it seems like there is not enough liquid, add some of the pasta cooking liquid (which, if properly salted, will be a great addition to your sauce). Your sauce should be creamy.


Transfer to a plate, top with freshly chopped parsley and parmigiano if you wish. Of course season with salt and pepper to your taste. A little crushed red pepper adds a nice kick if you like that kind of thing.


Mm, see the chunks of partly melted goat cheese? I undermix a little bit so that I can get those kinds of bites. May I also suggest having some bread to mop up any sauce left on your plate? Or you can lick the plate, as I did.