Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

Submitted by Marla Swoffer

"A luscious sauce with a Mediterranean flair. When creating this, I used Smart Balance (for butter), whole milk, and served it with Trader Joe's alphabet pasta."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup milk
• 1⁄4 cup cream cheese
• 1⁄4 cup sun-dried tomato packed in oil, chopped
• 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, quartered
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper
• salt, to taste
• pasta, cooked (shells or penne)

directions

1. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-low heat, and whisk in flour to form a paste.
2. Gradually stir in milk until well combined and somewhat thickened.
3. Add cream cheese and stir until melted.
4. Increase heat to medium, add sun-dried tomatoes, frozen spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic powder and pepper.
5. Stir frequently for several minutes until hot and thickened. (if it seems too thick, add more milk).
6. Reduce heat to low, stir in parmesan and cook (stirring frequently) for a minute or two more.
7. Salt to taste and stir into individual bowls of pasta.

Reviews

[Maito]

I rounded this up from 3.5 stars because of the creative use of contest ingredients to make a lower fat creamy pasta. I used Smart Balance as well, and more milk and pepper toward the end. We would have loved more sundried tomatoes in this. Fresh garlic and spinach would also be nice enhancements. Good luck in the contest!

 

[Stephanie Y.]

3 stars. I had to double the amount of milk in the beginning as the flour, milk, cream cheese mixture was the consistency of a dough. I also was a little confused in the directions when it said to add "frozen" spinach. No where previously did I see where it said to thaw the spinach so I put it in frozen, I thought perhaps the added liquid was what was supposed to thin out the sauce. This did not work for me however, because it was taking too long to defrost in the skillet while the other ingredients were beginning to break down. So I took it out and defrosted it in the microwave and then added it back to the sauce. As the directions stated, I added even more additional milk to get more of a sauce. I really did enjoy this dish but just wish the directions had been a little more clear.

 

[PaulaG]

3 Stars--The end result was a very tasty dish; however, the directions are not clear. The recipe was reduced to serve 2. I used quite a bit more milk than the recipe called for, close to twice as much. The artichoke hearts were drained and the frozen spinach defrosted before adding to the pan. I don't generally use garlic powder so I did add a couple of cloves garlic to the butter. Also, this really should be cooked on lower heat instead of medium. I do think a pinch of cayenne pepper would really add to this dish. Good luck in RSC #11.

 

[3KillerBs]

A high 4. Not quite what the name “Tomato Alfredo� suggests, but a pleasant, veggie-rich sauce that’s not too bland and not too intense. The idea of first making a super-thick, paste-like sauce then using the juice from the frozen spinach to dilute it is amazingly clever. I’ve never liked dumping the nutrient-rich juice down the drain when thawing spinach. I did reduce the amount of butter a bit because half a stick for 4 servings seemed a bit much. I think it could be improved by making it cheesier and using some fresh, chopped tomato or even drained, canned tomato. It would probably be even better with some Italian sausage crumbled in.