"Great cooking doesn’t always have to be complex. A couple of raw ingredients and 30 minutes can create an incredible meal. Sicilians know how to cook simply, and this is one of the staples."
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 – 2 pounds of ripe fresh whole plum tomaoes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (274th)
4 cloves garlic
3/4 cup fresh basil
1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (pope’s salt)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese (Locatelli)
1 pound spaghetti (Verrigni Spaghettoro)
PREPARATION
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place whole tomatoes into the boiling water for three minutes in order to blanch them for easy skin removal. Remove the tomatoes from the water and place under cool running water.
While your water is coming to a boil, finely chop garlic and put into a bowl with olive oil. Set aside. Chop basil. Set aside.
Once tomatoes are blanched and cooled, slice off stem side of tomato and peel skin.
Cut the tomatoes in half and remove as much of the seeds as possible . Chop tomatoes very fine and place in a large bowl with all its juice. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. You want this mixture to sit for at least 30 minutes before adding it to the cooked pasta.
Cook spaghetti al dente. Drain and return to pot. Add tomatoes and mix together. If you wish you can leave some of the tomatoes to top each plate.
Top with chopped fresh basil and grated pecorino romano. Mangia!
2 comments
Beauty lies in simplicity.
Beauty lies in simplicity.