Farfalle in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

As you know by now, cooking is my least favorite.  The time, the dishes, the stress of making something new.  No thanks.  That doesn't mean that I eat out every meal, but  I pretty much make the same things each week and if it takes more than 20 minutes its probably not getting made.  Poor Bobby.    However, this weekend I decided to try a new recipe--crazy right?  It was just a slight addition and adjustment to my standard pasta sauce.  And while I'm trying terribly hard to limit pasta in my diet, it was a delicious quick dinner :)

{recipe found on pinterest via }

 A rare site: 3 pots on the stove at one time!

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Creamy Tomato Pasta- (with some slight adjustments to the original recipe)

For the tomato sauce:

1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (about 9 medium)-- 
I used one 24oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, finely diced- 
I usually cut a yellow onion in half and let one half simmer in the sauce, and then remove it at the end.
3 garlic cloves minced- 
Lots of garlic makes my stomach hurt so I used a very small spoonful of pre-minced garlic in a jar.
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
olive oil

For the alfredo sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons flour
3/4 cup whole milk- 
I used 2% and it was fine!
1/4 cup half & half
2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed- 
Again used the pre-minced garlic, small spoonful
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 pound farfalle 

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta.
2. Start the tomato sauce. In a saucepan, add the can of crushed tomatoes, half of an onion, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Let simmer for about 20 minutes.  Add the basil at the very end.
3. in a small saucepan, sweat the minced onion and garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium low heat for about 5 minutes, until soft.
4. While the tomato sauce simmers, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook.
5. While the pasta and tomato sauce are cooking, make the alfredo sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and cook about 2 minutes, until brown.
6. Whisk in the milk, half & half, and garlic and season with salt & pepper. Continuously whisking, bring to a simmer and cook about 2 minutes until thickened. 
7. Whisk in the parmesan cheese. The sauce will be very thick, so add 1/3 cup of the hot pasta cooking water to the alfredo sauce to thin it out a bit. remove from heat.
8. Drain the pasta and add to the alfredo sauce.
9. Add the tomato sauce to the pasta. Mix well.

ENJOY!!