Fresh Tomato Pasta

This dish is a regular in our house since my father-in-law made it for my husband and me a few years ago. It’s based on a recipe from the Silver Spoon Pasta cookbook, if you haven’t heard of the Silver Spoon cookbook this review of their pasta book is worth a read. For this recipe I’ve increased the amount of tomatoes and pasta, because the tomatoes are my favourite part and we tend to eat larger portions of pasta than the original recipe calls for. We also added the Parmesan and Pecorino.

Here is the tomato mixture ready to be covered and left to sit for 20 minutes.  This helps intensify the flavour in the tomatoes as well as infusing them with garlic.

I usually serve this pasta dish with meat balls, but it is great on its own too!

Written by Corin

Kids in the Kitchen

Herbs – The basil leaves need tearing or slicing, so get those little fingers to work. Get them to count out the 10 needed and tear them into the bowl for the tomatoes.

Tomatoes – One for the older children as slicing tomatoes can be tricky without a sharp knife. I find sometimes using a serrated knife can do the job really well so let them try this and make sure to supervise too.

Grating – Grating, especially hard cheeses like the ones in this recipe are a great way to get kids of all ages involved. If you have a multiple sided grater, let the child choose what side they use or if you have a rotary grater too this can be a lot of fun and great for fine motor skills too!

Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes (plus 20 minute wait time)
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients

• 600g Plum, cherry or any smaller tomatoes
•  1-1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
•  Freshly ground pepper
•  2 cloves garlic, peeled and squashed using the side of a knife
•  10 basil leaves, torn or sliced
•  4 tablespoons olive oil
•  400g linguine or choice of pasta
•  80g of Parmesan or suitable vegetarian substitute, grated (Reserve 10g for serving)**
•  70g of Pecorino, grated**

Equipment

• Copper Tri-ply 20cm Saucepan
• Knife
• Chopping board
• Wooden spoon
• Sieve
• Tongs
• Medium sized bowl

Cooking Method

1.  Slice the tomatoes into quarters by slicing from where the stem attaches to the bottom. Place in a bowl with garlic and basil, and stir in the sea salt, ground pepper and olive oil. Cover with a plate and leave to sit for 20-25 minutes, stirring once throughout the process.
2. Cook the linguine in the sauce pan to desired tenderness. Strain the pasta through a sieve and return the pasta to the sauce pan, however the sauce pan does not need to be returned to heat.
3. Add the cheese to the sauce pan and stir well until melted. Remove the garlic pieces from the tomato mixture then add the tomatoes to the pasta and stir well.  Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan and enjoy.

*Make it vegetarian – find suitable vegetarian alternative cheese to grate into and over the pasta. Serve without meatballs.

**Make it vegan – omit all cheese and add 5-10 grams nutritional yeast. Serve without meatballs.