One of my favorite summer dishes to make is a kitchen sink pasta based on a technique I learned from a Michael Ruhlman video a few years ago. The basis is that you chop up some ripe tomatoes and let it sit (unrefrigerated) a while so the liquid draws from the fruit, offering up a beautiful tomato water. This water serves as the starting point for a quick sauce, made silky and wonderful when mounted and tossed with a healthy amount of butter.
You can vary this any number of ways, but the foundation is always the same. This time I marinated the salted tomatoes with fresh chives, purple basil, thin sliced garlic, cured Calabrian chiles, and mint. The liquid is separated, gently pressing the mixture to get as much juice as possible without excessively damaging the texture of the tomato. The cooked spaghetti (bucatini works very nicely too) is tossed with the tomato water, pasta water, and butter until well coated – practicing a good pan flip will provide a superior, lighter texture versus stirring with a spoon or tongs. The tomato mixture is only added for the last few tosses before serving.
This version was finished with crumbled feta, more chiles, pan crisped blanched almonds, more herbs, and some grilled Italian sausage. Plenty of good salt and pepper is crucial as well.
It’s silky and crunchy, popping with herbs and sweet summer tomatoes. We dined outside after a long morning of yard work, with a chilled glass of Lillet with bitters. It is the shizz, and various versions will be made in our home for the next two months. If you have any good variations along these lines, do tell.