Rigatoni with Fresh Tomatoes, Butter and Basil
I will only make this pasta when tomatoes are absolutely superb. This dish is a total celebration of the tomato and I think it shows great reverence to that special time of year when tomatoes are bursting with flavour. No garlic, no lemon, no chilli — none of my usual flavour kicks — just simply tomatoes with butter, salt, a bit of parmesan and fresh basil to go with a good al dente pasta.
Ingredients 8
1 kg tomatoes, ripest, sweet, juicy
2 tsp salt
500 g rigatoni
150 g butter
200 g cherry tomato, halved
1 bunch basil, leaves picked
grated parmesan, lots, to serve
extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
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Method 5
Peel your by cutting a small X on their base, dropping them into boiling water for 20 seconds, then dunking into iced water. The skins should peel off quite easily after that.
Cut them along the equator and squeeze out and discard their seeds. Purée the tomato flesh in a blender with the , then set aside.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook your until just al dente, or just under al dente. Reserve about 70 ml (2¼ fl oz) of the pasta cooking water.
To another large saucepan, add the drained pasta with some of the reserved cooking water and all the tomato purée. Cook over a high heat for a minute or two until the sauce coats the pasta and, finally, add the and melt that in. Check for seasoning.
Toss through the and serve with fresh on top and a good sprinkling of parmesan. A drizzle of good olive oil and black pepper is all that’s needed to finish it.
