Recipe: Fettuccine with Green Tomato Sauce

In many ways the summer can feel like one long build-up to that first bright-red, juicy tomato from the garden. For months we spend warm evenings strolling through the garden, checking on the state of our staked fruit, patiently waiting for mid-August. And then! We gorge - tomato sandwiches, caprese salad, salsa, fresh tomato sauce, grilled tomatoes, tomato and cucumber salad, canned tomatoes, tomato jam, you name it! 

 

But this summer we planted our seedlings a little late. So here we are, in late-August with nothing but a few light-green orbs. Luckily - while nothing compares to that sweetly satisfying first bite of a big red - the truth is that there are plenty of delicious things to do with a green tomato.

With a green tomato’s tart and firm flesh, there is a world beyond the classic fried side (not that there’s anything wrong with fried green tomatoes!). One popular option, seen often in kosher-style delis, is to go the pickle route. But in our house we like to do something else: green tomato sauce over pasta. Sauteed with onions, some cream, and bits of bacon (duh!), green tomatoes are the perfectly acidic base for a mid-summer-going-on-fall sauce.

Fettuccine with Green Tomato Sauce

+ 1 lb bacon, cut into small chunks
+ 3 lbs green tomatoes, cut into small chunks
+ 1 large onion, sliced
+ ½ cup cream
+ 1 lb fettuccine

1. Fry the bacon in a large saute pan. When done, remove bacon and set aside, reserving the bacon fat.
2. Saute the onions over medium-high heat until translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook for about one hour, or until the the tomatoes are soft. Meanwhile boil water for pasta.
3. Cook the pasta and drain. Around this time, add the cream to the sauce and remove from heat.
4. In a serving bowl, pour the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with bacon.