Linguine with burst cherry tomato sauce
Really all you need to know is that this tastes like summer in August (which I am extending for as long as possible), came together purely based on everything I had in my Deep Root Farm CSA box and the no-fail combo of tomatoes, garlic, basil, and cheese, and it takes 20 minutes to make.
As has been the life trend lately, this is less a recipe and more a guide to choose your own adventure, but this is basically what I do.
First, some tips.
It feels nearly impossible to add too many tomatoes or too much garlic or too much Parm or too much basil. This dish doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, so don’t skimp on what’s there.
The sauce will thicken the longer you cook the tomatoes, so don’t shorten this step.
Taste as you go! Mostly for salt, cheese, etc.
Don’t add too much pasta water or the sauce won’t be thick enough to stick nicely to the pasta (although Parm helps rectify this regardless—start with smaller ladles of water and add as needed)
Linguine with burst cherry tomato sauce
Yields 2 large servings—but just adjust accordingly
Equal parts extra virgin olive oil and butter (I do about 1.5-2 T of each)
2 pints cherry tomatoes (keep them whole!)
1 hot Hungarian wax pepper or other hot pepper, seeds removed, sliced into 1/4 inch rings (or less if you don’t want too much spice)
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
Possibly, a tiny bit of sugar to taste (depending on how sweet your tomatoes are)
About 1/2 cup reserved pasta water (possibly more)
Additional 2 T (cold) butter for stirring in to emulsify later
1/4 cup or so freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup or so small chunks of fresh mozzarella
Handful fresh basil, roughly torn apart
In a large saute pan over medium-low heat, cook cherry tomatoes and pepper rings in equal parts olive oil and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pan with a lid, and cook for 8-10 minutes—the goal is to cook tomatoes through, causing them to blister and burst—but about halfway through, use your wooden spoon to press down half of the tomatoes to squeeze their juices, which helps create a sauce. Halfway through when you do that, add in garlic slices. You should remove the lid to stir on occasion, just recover when you’re done.
Meanwhile, cook linguine (for 2 large servings) in salted boiling water, and reserve a cup of the pasta water.
Add reserved pasta water, starting with 1/2 cup (but adding up to a cup total) to tomato mixture. Stir together until hot and bubbly. Add in 2 T cold butter, and stir rapidly to almost emulsify into the water. Then stir in noodles. Grate in Parm-Regg, and stir that in to make a thicker sauce. (Taste for salt and pepper again here—add more as needed—I like it salty!). Add in pulled mozzarella, and stir again (the mozz will begin to melt and get stringy). Top with torn basil and serve in bowls right away—making sure each serving is given a finishing with the saucy liquid from the pan.