Tagliatelle with Herbs, Caprino, and Marinated Tomatoes

Andrew Carmellini: Urban Italian; Day 10; Recipe 10

This was actually pretty good, but tasted more like two parts than one whole. First, the pasta:  the pasta was combined with an alfredo-like sauce made with milk, goat cheese, parmesan, rosemary, thyme, and black pepper.  It was a good sauce and good pasta. I thought it would have gone nicely with some chicken. Then, the pasta and sauce were topped with marinated tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes sat in a bowl with shallots, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and parsley. The pasta with sauce was creamy and rich, but not too heavy. The tomatoes were acidic and bright. Both components were quite good, but so different and I wondered, why were they put together? My theory is that if I had used a more tangy goat cheese, maybe that would have evened the flavor profiles of each component a little better, making for a more cohesive dish. In the end, I would make the pasta again, but with chicken, and use the tomatoes to top a green side salad. There you have a complete meal.