Posted on: 25/Jul/2011

Pasta and tomato: The perfect match

 By Angelos Rendoulas

Pasta and tomatoes go hand in hand and can be creatively complemented by fresh herbs. For a sauce, choose tomatoes that are ripe but not too soft. They should be firm and shiny, with a heady aroma and the stalk should be green. Opt for organic tomatoes -- apart from being better for your health, they are usually tastier. Here are some chefs’ tips for a better result.

To make a more delicate sauce, peel the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Remove the navel and make a small cut at the base of the tomatoes. Plunge them into boiling water for 15 seconds, remove with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl of ice-cold water, preferably with ice cubes added. The skin can then be pulled off easily by hand. Then quarter the tomatoes, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into small cubes.

Adding a little sugar during cooking will help to reduce the tartness.

Garlic is often used in tomato sauce recipes. If you like it but don’t want it to overwhelm the flavors of the other ingredients, simply crush the cloves instead of chopping or mashing them, keeping them whole so that they can be removed before serving.

Crushed dried herbs such as thyme, oregano, mint and rosemary can be added to the basic sauce. A teaspoon is enough for a sauce for four people.

Fresh herbs should be added finely chopped toward the end of cooking time or just before serving. Tomato goes well with fresh basil, oregano, mint, parsley, thyme and rosemary or even with lemon verbena.

Choose from among a variety of other flavors to add to your basic sauce, including capers, sun-dried tomatoes, anchovies, tuna, canned crab, olives, feta or anthotyro cheese.

Raw tomato sauces

Roughly grate 3 large tomatoes, including the seeds, and mix with freshly cooked pasta. Season with salt, pepper, finely chopped herbs and olive oil. For a “Greek salad” flavor, cube 1 capsicum, 2 cucumbers, 2 tablespoons of olives, 1 kg of tomatoes (peeled and with the seeds removed) and mix in a bowl. Add half a cup of finely chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, 80 ml olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix and set aside until the pasta is ready. While the pasta is still hot, add it to the bowl with the aforementioned ingredients and mix. Grate dried myzithra cheese or feta over it and serve.

Another idea is a “vinaigrette” version. Blend 3 medium-sized, ripe tomatoes and strain the juice. Mix the juice with 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 of roughly chopped basil leaves, 1 of balsamic vinegar, salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour the mixture over hot or cold pasta.

On the stove or in the oven

• Peel, seed and finely chop 1 kilo of tomatoes. Heat 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow pan, then add 2 crushed garlic cloves and the tomatoes and cook over a moderate-to-high heat for 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the tomatoes. Stir frequently.

• Preheat the oven to 170C. Peel 3 large, ripe, firm tomatoes and cut each into 8 pieces. In a small baking dish, place 2 large bay leaves, crushed, 4 unpeeled garlic cloves, 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the tomatoes. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the tomatoes change color and begin to caramelize. Discard the bay leaves, squeeze the garlic cloves to remove the flesh (discarding the peel) and then mash the sauce with a fork but not so much as to puree it. Season and mix with the ready-made pasta.

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