September 8, 2017

Pasta with a sauce of uncooked tomatoes, herbs and aromatics is one of the delights of late summer. While this is very easy to make, and only a few tomatoes are needed, the tomatoes must be vine-ripened.

If you have just one tomato plant you’ll probably have enough tomatoes to make a batch of Salsa Cruda. Farmers Market tomatoes are a good option this time of year, too.

**Some of our tomato plants in front of the greenhouse and behind mesh to protect them from deer**

I make this with our home-grown tomatoes which are always red but using some of the amazing heirloom tomatoes in colors of yellow, green, or purple available in farmers markets would make a dramatic sauce.

**Colorful heirloom tomatoes on the bar at The Kirby Hotel in Douglas, Michigan: @thekirbyhotel**

If you can’t get vine-ripe tomatoes, or you want to make a similar sauce at a time other than late summer, you can use two or three roasted red peppers in place of the tomatoes. I’ll be posting a recipe for roasted peppers next month, after tomato season is over. In a pinch, you can buy a jar of good-quality roasted peppers.

Although this recipe is not a traditional “family of origin” recipe it is one that I have been making for almost 30 years. I consider it to be one of my traditions.

While you can still get vine-ripened tomatoes, give this easy and delicious recipe a try.

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Pasta con Salsa Cruda (Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce)

This makes enough sauce for one pound of pasta. Use pasta with a shape that will hold the sauce, such a small shells or fusilli. Although you can make the sauce in the time it takes the pasta water to come to a boil, it is better if the sauce is allowed to sit at room temperature for about an hour to allow the flavors to meld. Since the sauce is not hot, it is important to warm the serving bowl with boiling water just before using. I usually put some of the pasta-cooking water to warm the bowl. The optional aromatics (hot peppers, kalamata olives, and blue cheese) are really optional but definitely help to round out the flavor.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1 30

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

1 pound of short pasta such as fusilli or small shells
2 pounds of vine-ripe tomatoes coarsely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
1-2 fresh hot peppers coarsely chopped, such as Serrano, Jalapeno or Cayenne, optional
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup parsley leaves
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped Kalamata olives optional
2 tablespoons blue cheese such as gorgonzola, optional
2 teaspoons salt for sauce plus more for cooking pasta
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Method

Coarsely chop the hot pepper.
Coarsely chop the garlic.
Combine olive oil, garlic, and hot peppers, if using, in the food processor.
Process until finely chopped.
Add basil, parsley, Parmesan cheese and Kalamata olives, if using.
Pulse a few times to chop.
Add tomatoes, blue cheese, if using, salt, and black pepper and pulse until finely chopped, but not pureed.
There should definitely be some texture to the sauce.
Bring three quarts of water to a rolling boil.
Season the water with 1/3 cup of salt.
Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
When the pasta is done, reserve about ½ cup of the pasta-cooking liquid to thin the sauce if needed.
Drain the pasta.
Drain the hot water from the serving bowl. Add the pasta and sauce to the warmed bowl. Toss well.
If needed, thin the sauce with some of the reserved pasta water. This will likely not be the case but it is always a good idea to have some pasta-cooking water available just in case.