This week for the forty-eighth recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book, I made Spaghetti al Pomodoro Crudo (Spaghetti with a Raw Tomato Sauce) on page 61.
The ingredients: fresh tomatoes, garlic, parsley sprigs, basil leaves, salt, spaghetti, and olive oil.
I wanted to make this recipe as I haven’t made a raw tomato sauce for pasta before and it always sounds so good when I read about raw tomato sauce pasta. This recipe uses just a few ingredients (economical certainly, especially as I grow my own herbs). We are still in fresh tomato season here, I had both red and yellow tomatoes from my friendly farmer to use, which made for a pretty presentation. It was light and filling, wonderfully flavorful with those fresh tomatoes. I peeled and seeded the tomatoes which took away any bitterness that results from eating both skin and seeds. The seasoning is simple but it works perfectly. We served it at room temperature with grilled steak and farm fresh green beans, making it a lovely dinner at the tail end of grilling season. Definitely repeat worthy.
The recipes of Giuliano Hazan featured on this blog are available in his book Thirty Minute Pasta. The book is well worth the modest purchase price, and out of respect for Chef Hazan's work, the recipes are not published here.