Yesterday we went to visit our friends Stefano and Gianna who have a hot air balloon company in Chianti. They recently moved near to us, on a farm and have a fabulous litte orto, home garden, with three kinds of tomatoes, watermelon, cabbage and of course an herb garden, basil, sage, rosemary and parsley.
Foto from GrandVoyageItaly.com about their trip
Gianna’s Dad,Luciano, is one of the oldest butchers in the San Lorenzo market, so the meat is always first quality!
We got together to plan my husbands 40th birthday party. 10 years ago we all went hot air ballooning with Robert Etherington in Southern Tuscany and we are planning our anniversary flight!
Double balloons this year!!!
40 ANNI IN MONGOLFIERA
40 years in a hot air balloon….
Stefano is a fabulous chef and now that his garden is ready.. he offered us dinner… from the garden to the table.
He calls this dish.. linguine areostatici… we were joking that the spaghetti was flying over fields of the ripe tomatoes!!!
He harvested some Pomodori Fiorentini, a heirloom tomato that is always used for sauces.
The he cut them in half, width-wise, and sauted them in a non-stick skillet, with a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup of hot water.
When the tomatoes seem cooked, he flipped them over and chopped them up lightly, just with a wooden spatula,and let them cook more.
He then added some torn basil and at the very end some raw garlic slices.
Surprise! So Un-Italian!!! He then placed the raw linguine ( DeCecco) in top of the sauce, adding another 1/4 cup of hot water( salted). Continuing until the pasta was cooked.
He stirred and stirred as for risotto, letting the pasta absorb the rich tomato sauce, adding water as needed to help with the cooking.
Pasta Risottata it is called a slower technique which also allows the starch from cooking the pasta to flavor and thicken the sauce.
Voila! Tender, al dente pasta cooked perfectly in a fresher than fresh sauce. A first and last drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and freshly grated parmesan cheese stirred in and the last minute.
A labor of love as one must stand and stir, but a worth it for the concentration of the tomato into a sublime celebration if summer!
Grazie Stefano!
PS I also came home with my own bag of tomatoes!
Mille Grazie!
Update: Stefano just passed away yesterday, Sept 13,2019. RIP.
Judy- how you make me hungry at this early hour! Are we allowed breakfast pasta? Brava Cucina Sorella!!!
How about Brunch?
Hi again, Judy. I know I’m getting a bit repetitive here, but those tomatoes look amazing again. I just wish I could get something like that (juicy, sweet and really-really-really tomatoey) in Scotland:(
Judy,
I have always wanted to learn how to make a quick homemade sauce for pasta. This was great. I must return the favor by teaching you how to make “soul food”
Thanks!
Cassandra
I am all ears. where do you live?
I make a mean Fried Chicken I learned from my russion aunt who ended up living in the south… she spoke a funny english, with a Russian Souther Drawl!
Someone gave me a Fiorentini tomato plant for my greenhouse – but I had no idea what to expect as it had only a stick stating the variety, but no other info…my tomatoes are now starting to set and behold – there was your wonderfl photos that match my burgeoning crop, along with a delicious suggestion as to what to do with them. Thankyou so much!!
These tomatoes are out heirloom tomato.
Often grown in Sicily, where they get more sun.. and are the first to arrive in the markets.
All you need to do is rinse them off, remove the stem and squeeze into a pot.
Add some basil leaves and a pinch of salt.
Cover and cook until tender.
then put the whole mixture through a food mill.
This will remove the skin and seeds.
Depending on how much water they have.. you may want to reduce the sauce.
you can now jar it and procecss in a waterbath to save for a winter day.
Or, add a dab of butter, some more basil, taste for salt…
and serve on spaghetti with parmesan!
MAMMA MIA! that’s Italian
These are also great when ripe to cut open vertically and rub roughly onto a piece of toasted countrystyle bread.
Toast the bread first, rub with raw garlic and then the tomato.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt.. basil???
called Pane e Pomodoro
I love this recipe. So simple, so easy, so delicious looking. Must do this now. Tomatoes are looking good now in New York. Time to cook.
Can you get this variety of tomato plant in the states?
yes… it is an heirloom tomato, not sure what it is called in the stats.
But any nice ‘meaty’ tomato will work.
It is so yummy!
This is by far some of the best pasta I have ever made with fresh heirloom tomato’s from the market. WOW is what everyone says that tastes it. Try it….you’ll love it!
You had me at the tomatoes in the pan!