A great recipe for fresh tomatoes (or a reason to freeze some)...

15 years ago

I came across this recipe when reading "the $64 dollar tomato." I finally tried it this summer with some heirlooms and I have to say, it has become our favorite pasta dish this summer. My kids and 3 and 5, finicky eaters and they will eat this. I personally, can't get enough of it :-) Here it is...

This is a pasta variation of the famous Caprese salad, which is a tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad. This recipe takes only 25 minutes to prepare because you don't need to peel or otherwise fuss with the tomatoes.

Go out to the garden or farmstand and pick 4 or 5 of the ripest good-sized tomatoes you can find, about 2 pounds worth, and about 30 leaves of basil. If you have parsley, grab a handful.
Start a large pot of boiling, salted water. Slice each tomato in half across the equator and, over the sink, scoop out most of the seeds with your fingers. Don't worry about getting all of them out. Chop the tomatoes and place in a colander for a couple of minutes to drain the excess liquid. Transfer the tomatoes to a bowl. Chop the basil and parsley.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta. We use medium shells for this dish, because they hold the thin sauce nicely. While the pasta is cooking, chop 8 ounces fresh mozzarella into about 3/8-inch cubes. Grate 1 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese.
Smash a clove of garlic with the heel of your hand and saute very gently in Â¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil over low heat. Take care not to brown the garlic. Remove the garlic and add the warm oil to the tomatoes. Add the chopped basil and toss.
When your pasta is almost cooked, season tomatoes with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. (If you add the salt too soon, the tomatoes will render too much juice.)
When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain quickly (do not rinse) and return to pot, off the heat. Add the tomato mixture and the mozzarella. Mix in well and cover tightly. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir again. The heat of the pasta should have partially melted the mozzarella. Spoon into pasta bowls. Sprinkle a bit of parsley and lots of fresly grated Pecorino Romano and serve.

Serves 4.

I parboiled and froze extra tomatoes in quart bags a few weeks ago. When I didn't have enough fresh tomatoes to make this, I used the frozen ones. And it was still so, so good.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

digdirt2
15 years ago
Hmmm. Saved this one! Sounds great. Thanks for sharing it. I'm thinking Penne pasta?

We have been using this one: Cream Cheese Penne Pasta

1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tomatoes, diced
fresh ground salt and pepper to taste
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat olive oil. Stir in garlic, basil, oregano, parsley, tomato, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in cream cheese until melted. (Add meat, if desired, at this time.) Heat through, toss with cooked pasta and serve.
Yours sounds even better. ;)

Dave
ccaggiano
Original Author
15 years ago
I always make it with Penne. And am very careful to cook it al dente. Twice, I've cooked it too much and it just isn't the same.

I slice the garlic very, very thin, saute it so it is translucent but not browned. I like garlic and usually use about four cloves, which to me, gives it that much more flavor.

I am printing your recipe now - it looks really good!!!!
Related Discussions
Can I substitute fresh tomatoes for canned in a recipe?
Q
Comments (3)
A fresh tomato in a sauce will be a bit watery, unless its cooked a while first. You know, that if you make a fresh sauce it never tastes as good as one that was made yesterday. Sometimes I make pizza with sliced fresh tomatoes, and coat the dough with olive oil before adding the sliced tomatoes. Because many are watery, I usually slice and place on some paper towels, and add a sprinkling of salt to draw out some liquid before they get placed on the pizza.
...See More
If you have a freeer, a great way to make fresh tomato sauce
Q
Comments (17)
sandra The link at the bottom gives pretty good instructions for freezing tomatoes. It's probably the easiest vegetable there is to freeze unless you want to take lots of pains with it. There are lots of ways to handle tomatoes you want to freeze. A lot of people just put whole unblemished tomatoes in a Food Saver bag, remove the air, and seal them. Others cut them apart and remove the blemishes and stem ends. That's my method since by the time I get around to it, I have surfaces everywhere covered with tomatoes. IOW, I don't peel or seed them but blend them all together in a food processor (my Smoothie maker). Other people remove the skins before freezing them by giving them a short boiling-water bath. Some people freeze them individually on cookie sheets and then put them in plastic / Food Saver bags. Some people make the sauce first and freeze it in blocks, then put it into large plastic / Food Saver bags. So you have a lot of choices, but once you understand you don't have to blanch them and decide how much up-front time you have to process them, it's very easy. Here is a link that might be useful: How to freeze tomatoes
...See More
RECIPE: Need Soup Recipes that you can freeze
Q
Comments (10)
Here are a couple of my favorites. Both could be made with ground turkey or chicken. Vegetable Burger Soup makes 10-12 servings 1 lb. ground beef or pre-cooked frozen ground beef 2 lbs. can stewed or diced tomatoes 1 1 lb. can tomato sauce 4 cups water 2 10 oz. pkgs mixed frozen vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, green beans) 1 envelope dry onion soup 2 t. sugar - white or brown Brown beef and drain off fat if using fresh. Thaw beef if using frozen precooked. Add rest of ingredients to soup pot or slow cooker. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer one hour if in pot on stove. Cook on low for 8 hours if in crock pot. I add diced cooked potato cubes to this after thawing the soup and before heating. Sometimes cooked potatoes become soft with freezing. You can use diced fresh onion if the onion soup is too salty. Taco Soup I used less meat and it was great; subbed some bulk sausage for some of the ground beef. I did not include the can of hominy. You could use no salt versions of the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Not sure what you could sub for the Ranch Dressing or taco mix. Maybe garlic and parsley for the Ranch and chili powder for the taco? 2 pounds ground round 1 large onion, diced 1 packet taco seasoning 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch original dry mix salad dressing 1 can kidney beans (with liquid) 1 can pinto beans with jalapeÃ±os (with liquid) 1 can yellow hominy 1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies (Rotel) 2 cans stewed tomatoes (I use Mexican stewed tomatoes) 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce 1 cup of water Cook beef and onion until beef is browned, drain excess grease. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
...See More
Can I Freeze Fresh Squeezed Lemon or Lime Juice?
Q
Comments (16)
Yes the ice cube tray method is what I use too. I just bought a bag of Texas lemons that are huge and full of juice. I love to eat them with a little salt just like an orange. They are almost sweet especially the more yellow ones the greenish tinted ones are more like a regular lemon. My trees are meyer lemons. Also very good. I usually always have fresh lemons in the house I use a lot of lemon in cooking. I had the best, unusual, Cole slaw last night at my neighbors home for dinner, we loved it and I want the recipe which I will gladly share, it was very citrus flavored not in the least sweet and just a tiny bit of mayo. The flavor was awesome. The cabbage was large shredded with parsley and green onions I could have made a meal of it.
...See More
zabby17
15 years ago
ccaggiano,

I do something very similar but with Brie cheese (guess that's the grown-up version for my kid-free household, LOL!).

But I don't even saute the garlic, which makes it even faster (and more garlicky tasting, which is a Good Thing in our house).

Just cut some brie into cubes (remove some of the rind if it's an edge piece) and put in a bowl with some crushed garlic, some chopped fresh tomatoes, and a big handful of basil leaves, chopped; drizzle some olive oil over it and sprinkle some salt and fresh-ground pepper. Let sit for 30 minutes to a couple of hours so cheese softens and flavours meld.

Cook pasta al dente (I like fettucine for this), drain, and add to bowl. Toss gently, cover and let sit five minutes.

Serve.

WARNING: Do NOT cook more of this than the amount you want to serve at that meal, because you will go back into the kitchen and eat every last bit no matter how determined you are to leave some to re-heat tomorrow!

Zabby, in fresh-tomato solidarity...... yum.......
robin_d
15 years ago
Those recipes sound delish! Hurry up, tomatoes - ripen, ripe, ripen already!!!!

I made a simple pasta sauce last night from the first ripe Romas with some Jaune Flamme's, peeled, chopped, cooked with EVOO, some pickled garlic (homemade, of course) and fresh basil, rosemary and thyme. Grated some Parmesana Reggiano on top, served with Costco meatballs atop spaghetti 'cause that's what was on hand. Fast, easy... my, that was tasty! :-)
joybugaloo
15 years ago
Ok, so I just had to chime in and say that I made an amalgamation of ccaggiano and Zabby's pasta dish, and it was DEE-LICIOUS! I used two ginormous heirloom bi-colors, and one small black one, plus I gave it my own twist by sauteeing some onion and pepper along with the garlic. SO GOOD! Everyone should try it now that the tomatoes are coming on strong!

Oh, and I posted about the dish on my blog (with a picture) if anyone wants to see (link below).

Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious Tomato Pasta
kayskats
15 years ago
Oh Yeah!!!! Aint summertime great???
Mine is similar to Zabby's except I don't bother with the cheese and I use Fettucine Fini. And I make sure I have a fresh loaf of sourdough bread on hand for sopping up the juices!!!
kay
kayskats
15 years ago
I should have added that you never slice the sourdough ... you tear off a big chunk and dunk it in those great juices.
Kay
pkramer60
15 years ago
Sub some feta and add some shrimp and really go to town!
bets_1539
15 years ago
I live in zone 6...eastern MA and have some butterfly bushes that need to be transplanted. They were planted about 3 yrs ago and are now about 6 ft tall. Whats the best time of year to transplant and how do I go about it?

A great recipe for fresh tomatoes (or a reason to freeze some)...

Comments (9)

digdirt2

ccaggiano
Original Author

Related Discussions

zabby17

robin_d

joybugaloo

kayskats

kayskats

pkramer60

bets_1539

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

A great recipe for fresh tomatoes (or a reason to freeze some)...

Comments (9)

ccaggianoOriginal Author

Related Discussions

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

ccaggiano
Original Author