Linguine with Garlic Cream Sauce

By lorik

Ingredients

• Roasted Garlic Puree:
• 4 heads garlic
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons olive oil or melted butter
• For Linquine:
• 1 cup milk (reserved from garlic poaching)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1/4 cup roasted garlic puree
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 pound linguine

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from cooksillustrated.com

Preparation

Step 1

For Puree:
1. Loosen papery outside skin by rolling each head of garlic back and forth across a cutting surface; rub away loose skin. Cut off about 1/2 inch from tip end of each garlic head with a sharp knife, so that most clove interiors are exposed and garlic heads sit straight (see illustration 1, below).

2. Place garlic heads, cut side down, in a medium saucepan. Add milk and bring to simmer. Poach garlic over low heat, until softened slightly, about 10 minutes. Drain garlic (reserve milk if making Linguine with Garlic Cream Sauce, see related recipe) and rinse under cold running water to remove milk residue.

3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 head of garlic in the center of an 8-inch square of aluminum foil. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon oil over the garlic. Gather the corners of the foil over garlic; twist to seal. Repeat with remaining heads of garlic and oil.

4. Roast garlic packets in a small baking dish until garlic is very soft, about 1 hour. Let packets cool. Remove from foil. Squeeze out softened garlic by hand or with the flat edge of a chef’s knife, starting from the root end of the head and working down (see illustrations 2 and 3, below). Transfer garlic puree to a small bowl. Mash garlic with a fork or with the back of a wooden spoon to fully puree, if desired. Continue with one of the following recipes, or store puree in a small jar; top with olive oil. (The puree can be stored at room temperature for 1 week or refrigerated up to 1 month.)

For Linguine:
1. Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large soup kettle.

2. Bring milk, cream, red pepper, and oregano to boil in a medium saucepan; simmer, whisking constantly, until milk mixture reduces by half. Lower heat; whisk in garlic puree until sauce emulsifies slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste; cover and keep warm.

3. Meanwhile add 1 tablespoon salt and the linguine to the boiling water; boil until linguine is just tender, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving some of the cooking water. Toss linguine with sauce. If the sauce is too thick to coat pasta evenly, add the cooking water 1 tablespoon at a time. Serve with additional finely grated Parmesan and ground black pepper.