Sun Dried Tomato White Bean Alfredo
This dish holds a very special place in my heart. It was a on the whim recipe that happened during The Vibrant Kitchens first photo shot with the lovely Sarina. I was flustered and not at all prepared for the day. Every recipe had gone wrong because everything was in between seasons, I had never had anyone but me photograph my food and in short I was a disaster. But then I knew I had to pull out something beautiful. Something that would burst with flavor as well as make the photographs come live with color. And thus, the Sun Dried tomato White bean Alfredo was born. On set, never made before. It just came step by step and turned out to be one of my most coveted recipes. I hope you love it as much as we all do over here! <3 Happy Saint Patrick Day! xo
The Goods:
1 16oz Gluten Free Spaghetti
6 ounces Sundried tomatoes in olive oil
2 bunches parsley
1 bunch basil
29 ounce Eden Organics cannellini beans
3 lemons
6 cloves of garlic minced
One sweet onion
5 Roma tomatoes sliced and then halved
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes (for roasting)
1 red pepper (for roasting)
One full bulb of garlic (for roasting)
2-3 tablespoons dark chocolate balsamic vinegar (or any balsamic you have on hand)
Salt and pepper to taste
Get Cooking:
Pre heat oven to 350 F.
Wash cherry tomatoes and red pepper to prep for roasting. Place the red pepper on a cookie sheet and rub a small amount of olive oil all over. Lightly dust with salt and pepper then set aside. Add your tomatoes to the roasting dish. Splash about two tablespoons of olive oil all over the tomatoes. Follow with a tablespoon or so of dark chocolate balsamic vinegar. Dust with salt and pepper and set aside. Chop about ¼ of the top of the bulb of garlic off and then wrap full bulb in aluminum foil. Now place all of the goodies in the oven and let them roast for about an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes depending on your oven. Feel free to up the temperature to 400 to speed things up. Slow roasting simply allows for flavors to develop a bit more.
ow you can start boiling water for your pasta. Add salt and a small splash of olive oil. While your water boils, prep your onion, garlic, herbs, and tomatoes. Heat a saucepan with olive oil and add garlic and onion with a tiny bit of salt and pepper. Allow to become fragrant and add a bit of your basil and parsley as well as your sundried and Roma tomatoes. Strain your cannellini beans and add to a food processor along with zest of one lemon, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley, juice of two lemons, roasted garlic, and red pepper. Make sure you taste test throughout the process. Add salt, pepper and red pepper to your taste! Process until smooth. Add cannellini mixture ½ cup at a time into your saucepan and mix until combined. Start by adding the ½ cup, if you want a creamier texture you can add more in small batches until you reach the consistency you desire. Cook your pasta in the boiling water, strain when done and add into saucepan. Top with roasted tomatoes, roasted red pepper fresh squeezed lemon juice and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!
“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”