Annalisa's Pasta Prima Vera (Pasta con pomodoro crudo)
Fresh Pasta
Ingredients:
600 grams of 00 tipo flour
6 eggs
Salt
Method:
Place the flour on the bench or in a bowl.
Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth.
Add a pinch of salt.
Gradually work the flour into the egg mixture with fork.
Using your hands, bring it all together into a rough ball and start kneading.
Knead until smooth (it will take a little while) once smooth, leave it to rest for half an hour.
Then divide the ball into about 5 small balls and one at a time either roll out and cut into strips for tagliatelle, or pass through a pasta machine.
Prima Vera / Pomodoro Crudo sugo
Ingredients:
Good olive oil (I use Joseph cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
One garlic clove
800 grams of cherry tomatoes
Bunch of fresh basil
Salt
Pepper
Parmigiano Reggiano
Method:
My family have always called pasta with a raw tomato sugo pasta Primavera (which means spring) but it's more commonly known as Pasta con pomodoro crudo (with raw tomatoes).
I like to make my this sugo the night before, or early that morning so it has time to marinate and soften- as it's such a simple pasta it's definitely more flavourful if you give it time to sit.
For eight people I think I had 4-5 punnets of 200 gram cherry tomatoes (make sure they're nice and ripe, a deep red colour).
Cut them in slices, one cherry tomato into four pieces.
Add all of these into a bowl.
Chop a handful of fresh basil (no stalk - it's bitter) and throw that into the bowl.
Add about a cup and a bit of olive oil (it's important to use a good olive oil as this is essentially the base of your sugo).
Peel one clove of fresh garlic and add it into the bowl.
Gently mix everything around, cover and let it rest overnight or for a few hours.
Cook your pasta in salted water (if it's fresh pasta you've made that day it will only take a few minutes).
Once cooked, strain (keeping a little pasta water to add into sugo).
Add a knob of butter into the warm pot the pasta came out of and a spoonlful of your tomato sugo.
Tip pasta back on top.
Add remainder of fresh tomato sugo and pasta water.
Using a pasta server gently stir everything through, pluck clove of garlic out, and discard.
Serve with freshly grated parmesan and a basil leaf, salt/pepper to taste.
