Quick “Pomodoro Crudo” Pasta Sauce (and, free of charge, Cajun Spice mix)

This is not quite the traditional approach to raw tomato sauce as it incorporates elements of another of my favourite pasta sauces, Pesto Trapanese, a Sicilian version of pesto.

It is of course also a great quick fix recipe using up the tomatoes from our garden, which are beautifully ripe at this time of year and taste like tomatoes should  taste…

What you need

• 1 pound of tomatoes, more if you like, skinned and cubed
• a handful of almonds coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch of basil, chopped
• 80 gr parmesan or pecorino romano, chopped (or a good buffalo mozzarella)
• 2 cloves of garlic pressed,
• cajun spice and salt or herb salt to taste
• optionally: some very high quality olive oil and a few dashes of good balsamico vinegar.

What you do

1. Put on the pasta water with salt (enough that it tastes as salty as sea water, I’ve been told).
2. Dip the tomatoes into boiling water for a short time, till the skin ruptures, then pull off the skin and cube the tomatoes, discarding at least some of the slobbery seed stuff.
3. Put the basil, the pressed garlic, the cajun spice and the salt into a bowl. Mix in the tomatoes.
4. Chop the cheese and peeled almonds coarsely and mix in too. Optionally add a little olive oil and, if you like a dash of balsamico vinegar, white if you are fussed about the colour.
5. Drain the pasta, perhaps keeping a bit of the cooking liquid to mix with the sauce.

Remarks

If you find your pasta are done before you are ready to serve them, take them out before they are completely done and wash them under cold water until they are completely cool. To prevent sticking, especially with spelt pasta, you may want to add a bit of olive oil. This will keep in the fridge for a day if covered with cling film or in sealed container.  Before you actually serve them up, immerse the pasta in vigorously boiling water just enough to get them hot again.

This pasta sauce lives or dies with the quality of the ingredients, but it is a testimony to what I admire most about cooking, especially Italian cooking, to combine flavours that in combination are so much more than their individual flavours would suggest. Insalata Caprese is a prime example, basil, tomatoes, mozzarella (not the putty sort you usually get in supermarkets though!), salt, pepper, high quality balsamico vinegar and olive oil is as simple as it is wonderful; many of the ingredients of that masterly combination are of course represented in this pasta sauce.

Oh and for all those who are interested, a spice mix which goes well with almost anything as a slightly more intriguing flavour than perhaps pepper:

Cajun spice

60 g     paprika

30 g     black pepper

2 tblsp cayenne

2 tblsp onion powder

2 tblsp garlic powder

optionally:

2 tblsp dried lemon zest

1tblsp  dried tarragon

1tblsp  dried basil

1 tsp    salt

Combine all the ingredients in a sealable container and shake. In an airtight jar, this will last a few months…