A new pasta experience tonight
This was inspired by a recipe in the Italian food magazine
called Gambero Rosso. The English edition has been discontinued but Italian
edition is still in print. The truth is – the tomatoes are to be roasted, which
I did, to the point of burning them. Patience saw the dejection on my face and
suggested that I sauté them instead. Since we have an ample supply of green
tomatoes I started over.
INGREDIENTS:
1.
Green tomatoes coarsely chopped (3)
2.
Olive oil
3.
Garlic & onion
4.
Fresh basil leaves – I used frozen basil leaves
from last years crop)
5.
Farfalle pasta
6. Red pepper flakes
7.
Romano Pecorino cheese
8.
Dry Vermouth
9.
Butter
PROCESS:
Prepare the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add the tomatoes,
¼ cup of dry vermouth, basil, salt and pepper, and cover and cook over med-high
heat for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes break down. With large fork mash
the tomatoes to a creamy sauce, cover, and keep warm. Just before the pasta is
ready I added a tablespoon of butter to the sauce while Patience was not looking, along with some of the pasta
water. Add the pasta and about ¼ cup
of the grated cheese and mix well.
Without any garnish this is not an attractive looking dish.
But looks are deceiving, and this was very good. The sauce was sweet, but not
overpowering. We agreed there were a number of ingredients that could add to
its appeal: bacon or pancetta, mushrooms, and kalamata olives, to name just a few. I was
pleased to have a new ingredient at my disposal…the green tomato. I have looked at hundreds of pasta recipes and this was the first one I found for a sauce using green tomatoes.
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