Four Cheese Penne With Sundried Tomato & Hazelnuts

It's few days after Christmas and the whole family is craving nice pasta dinner.

Few years ago my hubby and I visited a restaurant in Seattle and I don't remember the name, but I do remember I had the best pasta dish ever. It was fettuccine in creamy sauce with chicken and toasted Hazelnuts.

Four Cheese Penne With Sun-dried Tomato & Hazelnuts

So I decided to add a little twist to our usual Penne with Four Cheese Sauce.

The clean plates and smiles on my kids faces told me that it was a hit.



Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Shallot (finely chopped)
• 2-3 Cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
• 1/4 cup White Wine
• 1 1/2 cup Half & Half
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups Cheese (grated mixture of Asiago, Mozzarella , Parmesan, Romano)
• 2 Tbsp Sun-dried Tomato (chopped & optional)
• 1/2 cup Toasted Hazelnuts
• 5 cup Dry Penne Pasta

In a large pot cook penne pasta till Al Dente. Set it aside.

In a large skillet heat the olive oil and saute shallots and garlic for couple of minutes. Do not burn them. Add the wine and reduce. Stir in the butter and cream. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer and reduce by one quarter. Add the grated cheese and stir till the sauce thickens. In the last few minutes add the sun-dried tomatoes.

When the sauce is ready toss in the penne pasta. Stir it around so every piece is covered with the cheese sauce. Plate it and sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts and Italian parsley.