Pasta, Vegetables

Pasta Primavera

May 1, 2009 by Gabriele Corcos

DIFFICULTY

When we cook any past sauce, it is usually a rule of thumb to start making the sauce, and eventually boil the water and cook the pasta. With this recipe you can instead start by putting your pot of salted water on the stove, fire it up, and while you wait for the water to come to a boil, you can get its condiment ready. Most likely, your “Primavera Sauce” will be done and ready, sitting in a bowl, before you are even able to start cooking the pasta…the water won’t be boiling yet!Only a couple of things to say about this recipe, to make your life even easier, and your mouth happier:

Try to pick very ripe tomatoes, you want the sauce to be as red as you can; when tomatoes are not ready, or you are not in season, the final color will be….pink (Which is what happened to me last night when feeding my daughters. Luckily pink is cool, and they had no objections or remarks). If you know how to buy good produce you will never go wrong.
About consistency: dose slowly the parmesan into the blender. If your tomatoes are not very juicy, the sauce can thicken too much and become more a paste than a pasta condiment. If this happens you can either add another tomato or add some olive oil.

Serves: 4 / Prep Time: 10-15 mins/ Cook Time: 10 mins

6 ripe Roma tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
½ cup of pinoli nuts (pine nuts)
½ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 generous handful of fresh basil for garnish
1 lb of dried penne

PASTA PRIMAVERA (Raw “Tomato Pesto” sauce)

1Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Make an “X” on the bottom of each tomato with a paring knife. One by one, stick each tomato on a fork and dip into the boiling water for about a minute. Remove from the boiling water, and add to a bowl of ice water to stop further cooking. Drain, and use your fingers to peel the skin off.

2 Add the tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, pinoli nuts, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic to a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Place the sauce in a bowl and set aside.

3Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta according to the directions on the box, and, as always, to make sure you achieve a proper “al dente” texture, drain it about 2 minutes before what is indicated.

4Drain the pasta and pour it into a serving bowl, add the sauce and stir well. Serve dressed with some grated Parmesan, a handful of torn basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.