Fast and fresh tomato sauce for pasta—the Italian way! Fresh tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano and extra-virgin olive oil make this dish both delicious and nutritious. Fast, easy and perfect for a hot day.
Slice the mozzarella. Pat dry any excess water with a paper towel. Dice into bite-size pieces. Set aside.
¼ lb mozzarella
Measure out the Parmigiano Reggiano. Grate fresh from a wedge if possible for maximum flavor. Set aside.
3 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano
Prepare Fresh Tomato Sauce
Make a shallow cut on one side of each tomato or an 'X' across the bottom.
1 lb fresh tomatoes
Add the tomatoes to a pot of boiling water. Boil around one minute. Save the water for cooking the pasta.
Remove the tomatoes from the hot water with a strainer or similar. Peel the tomatoes.
Remove any seeds and water from inside the tomatoes Discard these parts along with whites and stems because they all of these parts tend to be bitter.
Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to a bowl with a couple of pinches of salt. Let the tomatoes rest for 5 minutes.
fine salt
The salt will extract more water (and bitterness) from the tomatoes. You can discard this water as well.
Mash or crush the tomato pulp using a ricer, fork or immersion blender. Crush to the consistency you prefer.
Add halved fresh garlic, fresh basil, black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil to the mashed tomatoes. Mix and let the sauce rest for at least 15 minutes to give the flavors a chance to develop.
2 cloves fresh garlic, ¼ tsp black pepper, ¼ cup olive oil
After the rest, discard the large pieces of garlic. Add the Parmigiano cheese.
3 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano
Finish with Pasta
Cook the pasta according to package directions. You can use the water in which you boiled the fresh tomatoes to remove their skins.
½ lb pasta
In a large bowl, combine the drained pasta and the fresh tomato sauce.
Add the diced pieces of mozzarella and drizzle generously with more extra-virgin olive oil.