The Event - 12 February 2013
Another stunning summer evening.
The Research
I was perusing Susan over breakfast this morning and thinking to myself that I really must soon do the Raw Tomato and Fresh Basil Sauce on page 37.
Raw Tomato and Fresh Basil Sauce
Pomodoro e Basilico-crudo
As Susan herself notes, 'This is a summer sauce'. And it's already mid-February.
Carpe diem!
Pomodoro e Basilico-crudo is not to be confused with the other recipe on page 37, in which the tomato is not raw. The pomodoro not crudo.
The Foraging
This all happened at home.
Over breakfast, not only was I perusing Susan, I was also eyeing off the big tomato that The Entrepreneur left behind when she headed back inland last week. A big tomato grown with love by Our Dear Friend in Ballarat. I understand that she couldn't carry it back through South Australia. But I cannot believe she didn't find a use for it before she left!
It's so ripe! I cannot let it go bad. Does it weigh enough become the Raw Tomato component of Susan's Pomodoro e Basilico-crudo?
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| Peeling tomatoes the Susan Conte way |
As for the other ingredients? Olive oil, garlic and salt are always in stock and fresh basil grows on my terrace.
Susan suggests tubetti, penne, conchiglie or farfalle.
After pledging that I would always use one of Susan's pasta choices, I didn't have any of those. So tonight I used rigatoni. Small rigatonis though. Very like penne.
Tell me. Is 'conchiglione' the same as 'conchiglie'? Because I did have 'conchiglione' in the pantry in anticipation of making the walnut sauce (which I now notice asks for 'conchiglie' after all, not 'conchiglione' ...)
So I rephrase: all my pasta choices will be as suggested by Susan, or substantively similar.
The Cooking
This time, in deference to My Architect, I am using Susan's Cook's Tip method to peel the tomatoes. Our Dear Friend from Ballarat's tomato is satisfyingly huge. |
| Peeling tomatoes the Susan Conte way (cont) |
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| Tomatoes peeled the Susan Conte way |
Blend the tomatoes. Briefly. I did this for about 20 seconds on 'pulse', which may have been overdoing it.
Add some olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic and the fresh basil. This time I sit down at the table with a beer (I am now officially a FebFast DNF) and take my time tearing the basil and tossing the torn fragments into the sauce.
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| The Sauce, standing (with FebFast becoming FebFarce in the background) |
Once cooked, I drain the pasta and put it in a nice bowl. I add some salt to the sauce, stir it well and pour the sauce it over the pasta. That's it. Done.
Susan gives a word of warning on adding the salt. She says that the salt must be added at the last minute or else the tomatoes will become soft and watery.
Soft? Maybe I did blend the tomatoes for too long...
The Verdict
Tomatoes over-blended or not, the verdict was 'Pomegranates'. Amazing how much tomato and basil can taste like pomegranates.
This would be delicious to serve as a lunch dish. So simple but so good. Just as Susan says: 'the raw tomatoes served with hot pasta make a pleasant combination'.
And My Architect didn't even notice that he was eating a vegetarian dish. Now that's a first.
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| Completed dish (minus our first helpings) |
Want to try this at home?
Pomodoro e Basilico-crudo
450g ripe tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
bunch of fresh basil
salt
- Peel the tomatoes and blend them briefly
- Add the oil and crushed garlic
- Discard the basil stalks
- Tear the basil leaves and add them to the sauce
- leave the sauce to stand for about half an hour
- At the very last minute, add salt to taste (too early and the sauce will go watery!)
- Pour the sauce over cooked pasta (tubetti, penne, conchiglie, farfalle) and serve
