Rigatoni with cherry tomatoes
This is a pasta sauce that celebrates the fresh flavor of cherry tomatoes. It carries the sweetness of summer, along with a slight tang of acidity.
One of the advantages of this recipe is that you cook all the ingredients together at the same time and you only need to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Thus, I usually have my pasta water boiling and start cooking the pasta at the same time I turn on the heat for the sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced in halves (I often use the “Wild Wonders brand, which combines yellow, red, green and orange tomatoes)
- ½ bunch fresh, Italian sweet basil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup freshly grated Pecorino (called Romano in many shops because they sell Pecorino Romano). If you do not like Pecorino, use Parmigiano instead. Both are great.
- A box of Italian dried fusilli, penne, rigatoni, or spaghetti. A terrific brand is Rummo, which is available in many grocery stores and often low-priced.
Preparation
- Combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed skillet (I use La Creuset).
- Start cooking your pasta. My preferred pasta for this sauce is the fusilli (corkscrew shape), but it works well with any type of pasta, spaghetti, rigatoni, penne etc. As soon as you put the pasta into the boiling water, start cooking the sauce by turning the heat to high.
- As the cherry tomatoes begin to simmer and boil, adjust the heat so that the sauce cooks gently. Stir occasionally. As soon as the tomatoes get softened, you’ve finished cooking! This usually takes about five minutes, but if you have doubled the recipe, it might take a little more time.
- Drain the pasta, combine with the sauce, add the cheese, and serve.
Buon appetito!