Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo (Pasta With No-Cook Raw Tomato Sauce)

Bev found this recipe for Spaghetti al Pomodoro Crudo on line at "Serious Eats" and since we had fresh tomatoes from the garden and fresh pasta from the farmers market, we thought they would make for a good meal.  Since Bev likes lots of marinara on her pasta, I was surprised she wanted to try this.  I used shaped pasta as I don’t think chunky sauce works well with string pasta.  For my 10 oz. of fresh pasta, I adjusted the sauce ingredients below but the original can be found by clicking on the above link.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo - Adapted form Serious Eats

The Ingredients:

1 lb. summer-ripe tomatoes, cut into 3/4-inch dice

3/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium cloves garlic, finely minced by hand

18 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Kosher salt

10 oz. fresh, shaped pasta

Fresh Parmesan (added by Larry)

The Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together tomatoes, olive oil, garlic (use fewer cloves if you want a more mild garlic flavor, and more if you welcome a stronger one), and basil.

2. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir to combine, and let stand for at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until al dente.

4. Drain pasta using a colander or fine-mesh strainer, making sure to reserve at least 1 cup (240ml) pasta cooking water.

5. Add pasta to bowl with tomatoes and stir well to dress pasta with tomato mixture.

6. If pasta becomes too dry, add reserved pasta cooking water in 1/4 cup (60ml) increments as needed to dress the pasta (we needed none).

7. Season with salt to taste.

8. Transfer to individual serving bowls and add fresh grated Parmesan.

Notes:

Virtually any variety of tomato will work for this recipe, whether fleshy plums, juicy beefsteaks, heirlooms, or cherries; what's most important is that they be fully ripe. If using larger tomatoes, core them before dicing.

The Verdict:

We thought it was a delicious summertime pasta meal and the locally made fresh pasta worked very well.  The sauce cools the pasta a bit making it even more suitable for hot weather.  We used our own basil and tomatoes and we thought the Parmesan was a good addition.  

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

7/17/23 meal date