Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Recipe: Pasta with Raw Tomato Sauce


This was the first recipe my husband ever gave me. You see, we met over the interwebs and in one of his emails he raved about what he recently made with a bunch of tomatoes. Except, his directions left me a bit confused & I made it wrong. And it was so gross.

Luckily, he redeemed himself shortly afterwards with a delicious dinner of puttanesca with prosecco-soaked berries topped with cassis for dessert. :::swoon:::

Anyway, back to *this* recipe...

Made properly, this is remarkably good and an excellent choice for a potluck or picnic. And, by "properly" I don't just mean technique; this recipe is so simple that you really need fresh, perfectly ripe tomatoes, tender basil and quality olive oil. The other keys, are to use the proper amount of oil even though it's kind of alarming and to let the mixture marinate as long as possible. You see, the tomato juices and olive oil make kind of a vinaigrette which forms the "sauce." I like using more acidic tomatoes for this, rather than sweeter ones. Additionally, if you aren't a fan of the garlicky bite, then pop a few of your garlic cloves into the pasta pot for the last few minutes of cooking.

Ingredients (Serves a crowd)
3 lbs of tomatoes, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
3/4 cup of good extra virgin olive oil
1 large bunch of basil, leaves torn
Salt & Pepper

2 lbs of farfalle (or other fun pasta shape)

Directions
1. Mix first four ingredients together in a large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
2. Prepare pasta according to box directions.
3. Combine hot pasta with cool tomato sauce.
4. Devour. Possibly right out of the pan.

2 comments:

  1. We have a variant on this recipe that we've been making since were newlyweds! We made it for the first time in a long time on Monday (also as a way to handle many many tomatoes) and it was all devoured. The kids were clamouring for more - but it was all gone! We like to add a tablespoonful of balsamic vinegar and some chopped red onions to the sauce. I'm hoping we get more tomatoes in our CSA delivery Tuesday so that we can make it again.

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  2. Oh, that sounds delicious too!

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