Heavily Adapted Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo

My dear wife, who requires more sauce on her pasta than anyone I’ve ever seen, really surprised me by requesting pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil which is nearly sauceless.  So, I whipped up a batch of Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo using the recipe below which I altered for the amount of pasta that I was cooking.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo 

The Ingredients:

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

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

5 medium cloves garlic, finely minced by hand

25 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Kosher salt

1 lb. 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 milder 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.

The Verdict:

As expected, Bev said that it needed way more flavor and she planned to add marinara to hers for leftovers.  She had also mentioned that we had a lot of basil needing to be used so I suggested we add pesto rather than marinara to the leftovers to which she readily agreed.  We made a batch of pesto using the following recipe from "Love and Lemons" which I increased by 50% to get the following.

Basil Pesto - Adapted form Love And Lemons

Ingredients:

3/8 cup toasted pine nuts

1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 small garlic clove

¼ teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1½ cups basil leaves

¼ - ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

In a food processor, combine the pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper and pulse until well chopped.

Add the basil and pulse until combined.

With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and pulse until combined. Add the Parmesan cheese, if using, and pulse to briefly combine. For a smoother pesto, add more olive oil.

We just added everything to a tall thin container and used the immersion blender.

Add the pesto to the cold leftover pasta and mix well.

Plate and nuke to reheat.

The New Verdict:

We both thought it was delicious and are glad we have more leftovers.  Bev was never a big fan of pesto but her taste must have changed and she now seems to really enjoy it - and we have a good crop of basil.

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