Summer Tomato Pasta
It's August which means you have a whole bunch of extra tomatoes right about now or you will in the very near future (assuming you're the planting tomatoes type). That is a paraphrase of how the intro to a recipe from a usually trusted source started. Because I usually trust them, I am not going to name them here, but I corrected it for y'all. I didn't record measurements when I made it the first time, but I liked it so much that I made it two more times in four days to get the measurements and steps right.
Equipment Required:
Box Grater
Mixing Bowl
Pasta Pot
Skillet
Corer
Yields: 3 Portions, dinner-sized
Ingredients:
9 Ounces Linguini (fresh)
950 Grams Tomatoes, Heirloom
115 Grams Pecorino, finely grated
12 Grams Onion, Red (finely sliced)
¼ Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (rendered bacon fat works really well too)
80 Grams Garlic Confit
1 Tspn Lemon Juice
1 Tspn Soy Sauce
3 Grams Salt
2 Grams Pepper
5 Grams Basil
20 Grams Anchovies, coarsely-chopped
Steps:
-
Prepare the pasta water per the instructions in my cookbook, An (in)Appropriate Amount of Butter. (I just assume everyone reading this has a copy so no need to explain this right?)
-
Smash the garlic confit against a cutting board and add it and the olive oil to the skillet and set over medium-low heat – you want it hot but not hot enough to scorch the garlic.
-
Slice the bottom of the tomato (just enough to expose the flesh) and core them.
-
Using the largest grade of the box grater, grate the tomatoes into a mixing bowl. The grater will keep the skins off and protect your hands. The grated tomato amount ranged from 530 to 560 grams.
-
Add the grated tomatoes and the onions to the skillet and increase the heat to medium-high. Stir well to incorporate.
-
When the tomato mix has come to a high simmer (about 2 minutes) reduce the heat to medium and simmer for two more minutes.
-
Add half the pecorino to the sauce and stir until incorporated. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the basil (reserve a little for garnish) and stir again. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
-
Add the salt, pepper, lemon juice, and soy sauce and stir again.
-
Make the pasta (You've read the book, right?) and add it to the sauce. Top the pasta with the remaining pecorino (reserve a little for garnish) and toss the pasta in the sauce.
-
Portion the pasta and garnish with basil, pecorino, and chopped anchovies.
