Sally from Northamptonshire said:
Great website. We live in a culture where it's easier to get a takeaway. I remember my mum making big batches of... More
Ripe Tomato and Basil Pasta
This recipe works really well with tomatoes that are past their best.
Ingredients
- 3-4 tomatoes
- Virgin olive oil
Olive oil
Usually the darker green the oil, the richer the flavour.
- Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
- Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 handful of basil , torn
Herbs
Ideal for seasoning pastas.
To keep cut parsley or coriander, put in a hole free polythene bag with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, give the bag a good shake and keep in the salad drawer of the fridge. Herbs should keep for a week like this.
- Pasta
Pasta
Available in various shapes and sizes.
- Short tubular pasta (rigatoni, penne, macaroni) is best used in baked dishes with vegetables, cheese and meat.
- Smooth long pasta (spaghetti, linguine) is best with sauces like Bolognese, tomato and clams as these keep the pasta slippery and separate.
- Cup-shaped pasta (conchiglie, orichette) is designed to hold sauces with larger ingredients such as mushrooms, artichokes and tomatoes.
- Cut pasta (tagliatelle, fettuccine, farfalle) is best eaten with rich sauce made with cream, eggs or meat.
- Twisted pasta (fusilli, eliche, fettuccines, farfalle) the curly character of these pastas means that they will trap thin sauces such as pesto, garlic, and olive oil flavoured with chilli.
- Tiny pasta shapes (alphabet letters, fillini, vermicelli) cook quickly and are ideal for adding to soups and casseroles.
- Ravioli is stuffed pasta and can vary from cheese, vegetables and meat.
- Lasagne sheets and cannelloni are good pastas used in a baked layered meat or vegetables dishes.
- Black pepper
Black peppercorns
Best used as a condiment.
They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.- Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
- Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
- Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
- Parmesan cheese
Cheese
Add to eggs for omelettes, grate onto soups or salads.
- Parmesan often goes rock hard or becomes horribly sweaty. Ideally, all cheese should be stored in a cool, airy place at a temperature of 46-50F/8-10C. However, most of us put it straight into the fridge. This is fine providing the cheese is kept loosely wrapped in its own airtight container so it isn’t tainted by other foods.
- Store it in the salad drawer, which is not quite as cold as the rest of the fridge and use a micro plane for grating.
Instructions
- In a serving bowl, cut up the tomatoes, add a good drizzle of virgin olive oil, 1 crushed garlic clove and a handful of roughly torn basil leaves.
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, drain and return to the saucepan with the tomatoes.
- Season with black pepper and add plenty of grated Parmesan cheese.
Comments on this recipe
I make something quite like this in summer. I'd recommend peeling the tomatoes, and slicing the garlic finely rather then crushing it. Some ham is good, too, if you ave Xmas leftovers...
I love this dish, but I add cooked smoked bacon, cut up into small pieces.
Great recipe. I make large batches of tomato and red pepper sauce for pasta and freeze in individual portions - handy for a quick and healthy meal.
i love making pasta but in this one i would proberly have grated cheese on top instead of parmazan and maybe have mushrooms and chopped bacon in it
Ilove this recipe, I would have grated cheese and chopped bacon maybe some mushrooms.
Comments on this recipe