Pasta allo scarpariello
Another recipe for fresh tomatoes and basil from my urban garden.
A scarpariello sauce lends itself to just about any pasta shape, though the most classic is a short tubular pasta. In Rome, I had it with rigatoni, which was great. Other tubular pastas like penne, fusilli, rigatoni, or paccheri. I think paccheri is the best and is what is in the picture. Panccheri lends itself well to the scarpariello treatment. You will also see scarpariello recipes with spaghetti and other long pastas.
Ingredients
Serves 4
16 oz pasta
3 cloves of garlic, slightly crushed and peeled
18 oz cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
A handful of fresh basil leaves
1.75 oz freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
1.75 oz freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
olive oil
salt
A small pinch of dried red pepper flakes
Preparation
In a large sauté pan or wok, gently sauté the garlic in olive oil until it just begins to brown around the edges. Remove the garlic. Add a pinch of red pepper if using.
Raise the heat and add the tomatoes, along with a few basil leaves. Sauté for just a few minutes, seasoning with salt as you go. When the tomatoes have softened but haven’t quite melted, turn off the heat.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta of your choice in well-salted water until al dente.
Transfer the pasta to the pan with the tomatoes, along with a ladleful of the pasta cooking water. Turn the heat back on and toss the pasta with the tomatoes until the sauce clings to the pasta.
Turn off the heat and add the grated cheeses and the basil leaves. Toss until the cheese has melted and the sauce turns creamy and coats the pasta
Keywords: Italian Pasta Main
