In late August and September, our home gardens and the local farmers’ markets get flooded with great tomatoes. This is a glorious time and one that should be fully exploited. I look forward to having tomatoes every day when they are at their peak, knowing that in a few months, I just won’t be able to get them.
While most pasta dishes call for canned tomatoes (and I’ve put up my share for the winter), I want to celebrate the fresh tomato. Quality canned tomatoes are an essential staple in any kitchen pantry but they cannot always substitute for fresh tomatoes. I was intrigued by several recipes that featured fresh tomatoes with pasta. The beauty is found in the simplicity, but the flavors just didn’t pop enough for me, so I set about tweaking the recipe to achieve maximum tomato flavor. In most cases, simple is better — less is more especially when relying on fresh, quality ingredients.
The first thing I adjusted was the pasta of choice. Almost every recipe called for angel hair pasta. I hate angel hair pasta! It’s void of texture, it overcooks in the blink of an eye, and it gets overwhelmed by the most delicate sauce. Instead, I chose bucatini as this offers texture, and it absorbs the sauce perfectly.
The biggest tweak of all was to reimagine the dish as a hybrid raw and cooked sauce. The character of the dish relies on raw, ripe tomatoes that get warmed by the hot, cooked pasta. I didn’t want to lose that, but I did want to concentrate the tomato flavor, and I didn’t want the complementary ingredients (onion and garlic) to remain raw. To get the best of both worlds, I sautéed the onion and garlic with red chili flakes and then added the collected tomato juice with a bit of white wine and made a quick reduction. Eureka! This offered a wonderfully rich but vibrant base for the raw heirloom tomatoes and something decadent for the pasta to cling to.
Ingredients for Pasta with Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes
- 5 medium to large heirloom tomatoes (a mixed variety)
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- 1/2 cup Olive oil (your best extra virgin)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 pound dry bucatini (the best that you can find)
Method for Pasta with Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes
Chop three of the tomatoes, medium-small dice, and scoop into a strainer with a large bowl below to collect the juices. Using a box grater, grate the other two tomatoes into the strainer using the largest hole side of the grater. Lightly salt the tomatoes and allow them to sit for 30 minutes.
In a sauté pan, sweat the onions, garlic, and red chili flakes. When the onions and garlic are soft and fragrant, increase the heat to high and add the collected tomato juices and the wine. Reduce the liquid by at least half.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta to al dente.
Drain the pasta and add it to the bowl with the fresh tomatoes and the cooked vegetables and tomato water reduction, Parmesan, basil, and olive oil. Toss and serve.
Serve with a flavorful but modestly oaked white wine (I like a dry White from Italy’s Campania region or perhaps an Alsace Riesling). Reds work well too as long as they are light to medium-bodied with good acidity, low tannins, and modestly oaked wines. In other words, no Cabs or similar wines, rather a fresh Pinot Noir, Dolcetto, or Lagrein.