Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes and Summer Herbs

Edit
Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes and Summer Herbs

The easiest summer dinner known to man, pasta con salsa crudo, is a one-bowl, infinitely variable riot of seasonal flavors. It can be made with fancy Italian tuna and local heirloom tomatoes for foodies, or with supermarket mozzarella and tomatoes for children, or with excellent olives and extra pine nuts for vegetarians. It puts you in the kitchen for about a half-hour at the tail end of lunchtime. After that, all there is to do is cook the pasta, and serve with or without crusty bread, boiled corn, sliced tomatoes, or a nice, simple green salad.

Rating

Ingredients

  • About 1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, halved or quartered if small, diced if large
  • Salt
  • 2cans olive oil-packed tuna or 1 pound mozzarella cheese, diced (optional)
  • 2/3cup pitted oil-cured black olives, halved, or 1/2 cup pitted green olives, chopped, or 3 tablespoons capers (optional)
  • 2/3cup chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, mint, chives, cilantro, scallion tops, or a combination), more for garnish
  • Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
  • About 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2pounds short pasta, like fusilli, farfalle or penne
  • Hot red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1/2cup toasted pine nuts (optional)
Set base servings to enable scaling:

Directions

Up to 4 hours before serving, put tomatoes in a large bowl and sprinkle all over with salt. Set aside for 30 minutes, then drain off liquid.

Add tuna and its oil, olives or capers, if using. Add herbs and zest. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and stir gently, flaking tuna into pieces. Cover and set aside at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water. Drain very well. Combine tomatoes and pasta well, then taste and add more oil, salt and pepper to taste. Add red pepper flakes if desired. Sprinkle with pine nuts, if using, and chopped herbs. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Info
Trans Fat: 0 gramsFat: 33 gramsCalories: 777Saturated Fat: 4 gramsUnsaturated Fat: 26 gramsSodium: 692 milligramsSugar: 6 gramsFiber: 6 gramsCarbohydrate: 92 gramsProtein: 30 grams
Italian

Source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012714-pasta-with-marinated-tomatoes-and-summer-herbs