Spaghettini con Salsa di Pomodori Cruda

I MUST post this recipe! And it’s just for YOU, who ever you are! This is a recipe for winning someone’s heart! I mean it! You wanna tell someone you REEEEAAALLLLY love them, make this. I can gurentee, this will score you great big chuncks of "brownie-points"....how many languages do I have to say this in? Zehi, yatte mitte kudasai! YOROSHIKU ONEGAI ITASHIMASU!

But anyway, this recipe has been staring at me from my folder for a few months, rolling it's recipe-eye-balls at me for not trying it already. With it’s “match-made-in-heaven” trio of fresh tomatoes, basil & olive oil, what was I waiting for? I was just biding my time, waiting for the basil.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m the creepy looking housewife in the backyard with her watering can, thinking "happy" thoughts to my basil so that they will grow & I can consequently eat them.

Now that the warm weather is in full swing so are my basil & not only have I made my first jar of pesto, I'm lovin’ the pastas now!

So without further ado. I will be sorely offended if a certain Aussie chef who wears a “Michelangelo’s David” apron, doesn’t try this out. (Junior, you better not have one of those aprons too, or I'll DIE) For that matter, if you read this blog & you know how to boil pasta noodles, then try this. It’ll make you feel like a pro.

This is from the Italian cookbook “Masterclass in Italian Cooking” (Thank you, Chiba Library) My embellishments are in blue.
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This is a recipe for hot clammy days. It relies on the very best, sweetest tomatoes, which must be ripe & very red. Key Step: Make the sauce the night before.

Serves 12

1 kg sweetest tomatoes (I used 6 large ones)
4 tbsp extra virgin oil
2 clove new season’s garlic, peeled & finely sliced (I didn’t really follow things here & gently sauted the garlic in the oil before adding)
a large handful of fresh basil leaves (oooh, my handfuls were LARGE and greedy)
sea salt
cooked spaghettini, to serve (that’s slightly thinner than the normal spaghetti, but I’m sure anything will do, I bet it would be great with penne. I used 1 kg.)

Wash the tomatoes & remove the stalks. Skin them by plunging them in boiling water for a couple of minutes (about one is fine)

Chop them roughly, put them into a sterile preserving jar. (I just used a glass dish with a lid) add the extra virgin olive oil, add the sliced garlic, tear the basil into pieces & add this to the tomatoes. (did you know, tearing basil brings out the flavor, because it bruises each leaf better than cutting would, whod'a thunk!) Season with salt & mix well. (I used about a tsp of salt) Cover & refrigerate overnight.

Warm the sauce gently for about 10 min, just to take the chill from it. (Or leave it at room temp for 20 min) & serve on spaghettini cooked al dente.
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And that’s it! I didn’t warm the sauce, in fact I made it a chilled pasta by cooling off the pasta noodles (dousing them with pot-fulls of cold water after cooking) & as a twist & added some sauted fava beans (sora-mame).

I did add a few more tbsp of olive oil at the end of it all, and it was…….mouthwateringly refreshing & flavorsome. This is the summer pasta for me! Simplicity is a beautiful thing, dear, eat it up while it's fresh. Bon Apitite!