Pasta with a Sauce of Uncooked Tomatoes

By John, 12 September, 2020
Region
Italy
Description

Spaghetti al Pomodoro CrudoThe taste of late summer, to me, is that of very fresh tomatoes from the farm, tomatoes that never saw the inside of a refrigerator or rode on a tractor-trailer across state lines.

If you can't make this with farmer's market fresh tomatoes, don't use supermarket tomatoes! Canned tomatoes were at peak freshness when they went into the can, but supermarket tomatoes are bred for shippability and picked unripe, then artificially "ripened" in the truck with ethylene gas. Of course, artificial ripening is artificial, away from the sun, and it's the sunshine that the plant uses to make the fruit sweet.

Yield
4 Servings
Preparation time
30 minutes
Ingredients
3 T Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
14 1⁄2 oz diced tomatoes (canned or really fresh)
10 Basil leaves (chopped)
2 clv Garlic (crushed)
1 lb Spaghetti
Instructions
  1. Combine the oil, tomatoes, basil, and garlic in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes for the flavors to mingle.
  2. Boil the water for the spaghetti.
  3. Cook the spaghetti.
  4. Remove the garlic from the tomato-basil mixture, and drain and add the spaghetti.
  5. Toss the spaghetti with the tomatoes, add salt and pepper if you think it needs it, and serve right away. A couple of additional fresh basil leaves makes a nice garnish.
Notes
Some recipes for spaghetti al pomodoro crudo include a dried chili pepper in the tomato mix, but I think this adds little if the tomatoes have good flavor.
Source
The Silver Spoon Cookbook