Pasta Pomodoro
In a Hurry?
- Cook pasta
- Dice tomatoes, mozarella, onions
- Cut basil
- Mix, add olive oil, balsamico, pepper, salt
- Pour over pasta
Many years back, I spent a month in summer in Sicily, invited by an Italian family. Among the greatest things I remember where the meals on the big table on the front porch. Of course, there were plenty of dishes I had never seen and the potential to learn a lot. But who knew that I needed those 30 years later or that I would even talk about them. One of the surprising dishes was pasta with fresh tomatoes. The tomatoes, balsamico and the basil gave the dish a light and refreshing flavor. A great meal for a summer day.
There are many variations of pasta pomodoro on the internet. Some of them are asking to heat up the tomatoes together with the onions, but using the fresh tomatoes is exactly what makes this dish a great dish to eat on a summer night on your porch. If you are feeling adventurous, don’t even saute the onions and the garlic, just add them raw. That makes it taste sharper, which might take the romance out of the meal, but it’s certainly tasty as well.
- 1 pound of pasta, spaghetti, penne, farfalle, your pick
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 medium sized onion, diced
- 2 gloves of garlic
- 1 cup of fresh basil, cut into strips
- 5-8 oz mozarella (optional)
- 3 tablespoons balsamico
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- Boil the pasta
- Dice the onion
- Peel the garlic
- Saute the onions lightly and add the garlic using a garlic press
- Dice the tomatoes
- Cut the basil leaves into strips
- Pull the mozarella into chunks
- Put tomatoes, onions, basil and mozarella together in a mixing bowl
- Add the balsamico, olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Mix well
- Drain the pasta and let it sit for a moment.
- Serve the pasta in a bowl and top it with the pomodoro mix
July 30, 2011
What’s your feeling on peeling the fresh tomatoes? Are you a skin-on or a skin-off guy? Since they don’t really get cooked I see no reason to peel them…
July 30, 2011
Lazy cook’s answer: skin-on. But cut out the green around the stem. I haven’t done much cooking of fresh tomatoes. So it’s never been much of an issue for me. It might become an issue if I find a neighbor who wants to drop off a bucket full of tomatoes.