Sunday, June 10, 2012

[Fresh tomato spaghetti] Refreshing cold spaghetti for a summer day

I love tomatoes.

So the first thing I planted in my tiny vegetable garden was tomatoes.
Tomato seeds were planted and germinated indoor.
The plants were transplanted outdoor after the last frost, i.e. Victoria day.
I have eight tomato & cherry tomato plants that will supply more than enough tomatoes for this summer.

While I make tomato sauce with canned tomatoes,
I also like making pasta with fresh tomatoes.
  
 
As this Spaghetti al pomodoro freddo or fresh tomato spaghetti is eaten cold,
this is a refreshing dish for a summer day.
Peeling tomatoes could be a little pain in the neck, but it's not too bad. Tomato skin peels off very easily if you know how to do it properly.
  
 You can add as much basil as you like.

Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients
8 oz. spaghetti
1/2 cup fresh basil
Salt

(sauce)
3-4 tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 + 1/2 teaspoon salt


How to make:
   

 1. Place a pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil.

2. Wash the tomatoes.
3. Cut a  + on the bottom of each tomato. This will help in the actual peeling of the tomato later.


4. Place a tomato on a ladle and dip into the boiling water. Leave it no longer than 10-15 seconds before removing it.


5. The tomato should still be very firm, but the skin must be wrinkled and hanging off of it slightly. Peel the tomato. Peel the skin off.
Repeat these steps for each tomato.


6. Meanwhile, Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. (6-7 minutes for al dente) Drain.


7. I normally use the seeds of tomatoes. But, feel free to scrape the seeds out as it is a more common way.
Dice tomatoes.


8. Mix diced tomatoes, olive oil, chopped garlic and salt. Now fresh tomato sauce is ready!

9. In a large bowl, toss together the spaghetti, tomato mixture, basil, pepper, and salt,

Ready to be served~
I used young basil leaves without chopping them. You can chop basil if you are usuing fully grown basil leaves.

This is a great summer pasta.
Hope you like it as much as my family does :)
Enjoy!

Spaghetti al pomodoro freddo  


4 comments:

  1. OH, Colleen, this recipe appeals to me in every way, my friend! Simplicity at its finest!!

    The first thing that my husband ever plan in our garden is the lovely tomato, followed by the basil. Gotta have those tomatoes and basil. And, as a matter of fact, my first tomato is about to be ready any day this week. I've got basil growing in three different baskets, so you know that we I ready to eat!

    Happy cooking, Amiga!
    ~Virginia

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  2. Virginia,
    good to see you here! Thanks for your comments~

    We all need a simple recipe for a hot summer day, don't we? :)
    You are lucky to have ripe tomatoes already! I'm jealous!! Well, mines are late bloomers. Or I transplanted rahter late. I'll let you know when my first tomato gets ready to be picked.
    Basil is my very favorite herb. I have plenty now :)

    Good night! (or have a nice evening in PT!)

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  3. I just tried it and it tastes so good. Even better thing is, I don't need to stand in front of fire for too long. Thank you for this great recipe. I'll look forward to see more of your cold pasta recipes, if you'd like to share :)

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    Replies
    1. You got the whole idea, thinasub. I love this spaghetti because my kithcen doesn't get heated, which is very important factor in summer!
      Hang in there. I'll come up with more cold pasta recipes :)

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