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Raw Tomato Sauce


Rachel Perlow

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We picked a bunch of beautifully vine ripened tomatoes from our garden and I want to do the raw tomato sauce thing with them. I have a variety of plum, grape, cherry and green zebra tomatoes. My thinking is to quarter the small tomatoes, dice the larger ones, add a crushed garlic clove and some olive oil, then add hot pasta.

Questions:

How much olive oil to, say 2-3 cups diced tomatoes?

Should the mixture be allowed to marinate (mascerate?) for a while before adding the pasta? If so, how long?

Should I try to remove the seeds? Strain the juice?

Add anything else to the mixture? Basil?

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Rachel - We do this with fresh tomatoes (both from our garden and purchased) all of the time. We dice up the tomatoes and then let them drain for a few minutes in a colander. We then shred some basil and toss it with the tomatoes. Add enough olive oil so that when you toss the tomatoes there is enough oil to coat them. If not add more oil. We then hit let them steep for about 20-30 minutes. Garlic is optional as are hot red pepper flakes or any other herb. Hit it with fine sea salt just before serving. Salting it sooner will draw water from the tomatoes. A variation on this theme is a salsa we make from Joyce Goldstein's Square One cookbook. We mince a clove of garlic, mince a few anchovys and chop up 20 Kalamata olives and a bunch of parsley. Mix together with the diced tomatoes and olive oil and let steep for 20 minutes. Great on both grilled meats and fish.

Edited in:

Sorry, no seeds.

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The only thing I would add to what Steve P said was to mill some fresh milled black pepper to your tomatoes. Also adding the salt (as well as the basil) is important to add just before service as the salt will leach out the moisture as Steve said and the basil will bruise if added to early.

Turnip Greens are Better than Nothing. Ask the people who have tried both.

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Oh, but we like the stronger garlic flavor. Yum! If it were cooked I'd be adding several cloves, but since it's raw I'm sure one will be enough. I'll have to see what other herbs are hiding out there among the weeds. I know there's sage and mint (they got huge!!!), but there should be some thyme and oregano too.

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As for your raw garlic.

You can heat a tablespoon or so of evoo till 180 degree's and pour it hot over your minced or slivered garlic.

This will take a bit of the rawness out and leave it a little sweet.

Mint and tomatoes are wonderful together, a few chic peas tossed in will also go well with mint and tomato

Turnip Greens are Better than Nothing. Ask the people who have tried both.

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OK - I'll mince the garlic rather than crushing it to downplay the rawness and will heat the oil before boiling the pasta (keep in mind I'm working with one burner these days - can oil be heated in a microwave?).

I went outside and found some basil, mint, sage, and oregano for the dish. Also found a ripe White Beauty tomato, although it is more of a creamy yellow-orange, but I know it is ripe because it is soft and fragrant.

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I would go light on the sage as it's natural oils will dominate the tenderness of the other herbs.

When I said heat the oil, I meant you can do this ahead of time and let it cool and then add it to your raw tomato sauce, then boil your pasta, drain and add it in a large pretty bowl and toss and re-season if need be

Turnip Greens are Better than Nothing. Ask the people who have tried both.

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Although I've never tried heating oil in the microwave, it would probably work out well using the same philosophy as heating/melting better: medium or low heat, covered, and do it in small increments of time. Let us know how it works (and avert your face when uncovering!).

Just think, Rachel, you could be gathering material for your new cookbook "Great Meals: Fast and Easy in a One-Burner Kitchen"

:wink: .

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Wonderful thread. Wonderful.

I'm doing this very thing myself tomorrow. :smile:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Previous question, Can you heat oil in a microwave?

Yes you can heat evoo in the nuker, however be sure to use a container that does not heat up to much (so you can retrieve it saftly)

Turnip Greens are Better than Nothing. Ask the people who have tried both.

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Rachel, a lot of excess moisture departs when you seed a tomato, anyway, and when the hot pasta and sauce are tossed together (did we mention cheese yet? Pecorino Romano is good) a lot of liquid will be absorbed.

Macerating for a while is good, I think, but such a sauce is very flexible and forgiving and can go a number of ways and end up delicious. I like the idea of heating the garlic in the oil ahead of time and adding it later after cooling. I have always gone the various raw routes, from minced to bruised-and-removed.

An excellent one-burner meal. What shape pasta will you use?

Priscilla

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Fresh mozzarella. It gets all nice and melty/stringy.

Outdoor........very impressive, and even more of a niche classic.

Some lightly grilled foccaccio with your raw tomato sauce and Buffalo mozz and a bit of tapinade baked for a couple of minutes just to take the chill off would be nice with a light Dolcetta

Turnip Greens are Better than Nothing. Ask the people who have tried both.

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Some lightly grilled foccaccio with your raw tomato sauce and Buffalo mozz and a bit of tapinade baked for a couple of minutes just to take the chill off would be nice with a light Dolcetta

Mmmmmmm........for lunch I had leftover heirloom tomato salad from last night (same basic recipe as above, with a splash of balsamico), coarsely chopped, on toasted cracked wheat baguette with fresh mozzarella. Ran it under the broiler quickly to melt the cheese a bit. No Dolcetto, though. :sad: Cubicle police wouldn't go for that at all...............................

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