When I lived in San Francisco, I kept hearing about an amazing restaurant called “Frances.” With that name, I thought surely Frances had to go eat at “Frances” even if it wasn’t a great restaurant. It was one of those foodie destinations where there weren’t very many tables, so between it being a small space and just being plain popular it was so difficult to get a reservation!
I ended up leaving SF never having eaten there, but on a recent trip back, looked it up on a whim and there happened to be an opening! Someone must have canceled at the last minute and I was so excited to finally eat there.
Anyways, my friend and I shared many, many small plates of tastiness that the chef had dreamt up, but this one dish we thought really made the whole dinner. I tried to replicate it based on what I remembered, and it turned out preeeeetty close! At least I don’t have to go all the way back across the country to recreate a small part of that experience!
Ingredients
1 jar of roasted peppers
1/2 lb of whole wheat pasta
garlic confit (which is basically just taking garlic cloves and simmering them in olive oil for 40 minutes – you can also just roast the garlic in the oven at about 350 F for about 30 minutes)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
poached egg (optional)
2-3 pieces of proscuitto thinly shredded (optional)
Directions
1. On a roasting sheet, pour and spread some olive oil and then add the halved grape tomatoes. Set the oven at about 350 F and roast the tomatoes for about 30 minutes (you can add the garlic here if you’re roasting it).
2. In a large bowl, add water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions.
3. In a food processor, add the roasted peppers and some olive oil and puree until fairly smooth. Set aside.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add back into the pot that it was cooked in. Add in the pureed roasted peppers and mix it through. Add the tomatoes and garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Top with a poached egg if you love eggs as I do, and serve immediately!
Perfect!