No Cooking Required;
Summer Pasta Sauces That You Mince, Chop and Toss in a Bowl 
By Domenica Marchetti

The Washington Post
Wednesday, June 25, 2003

One of the most common mistakes a cook can make when preparing sauce for pasta is to overcook it. Unless you are making a wintry meat ragu that needs plenty of gentle simmering, the general rule is the less cooking the better. After all, how long does it take to tenderize a tomato? Keep it on the stove for too long and you'll end up with a pot of tomato paste.

In summer I like to take this rule one step further and make fresh garden sauces that require no cooking at all, just a good tossing with hot cooked noodles or other accommodating pasta, to warm the ingredients and bring out their bright colors and flavors. 

A raw sauce can be as simple as chopped ripe tomatoes steeped in olive oil and garlic or a fresh herb pesto. It can feature a single vegetable or a mix. Perhaps the most appealing thing about summer sauces is that they invite improvisation. You can use whatever herb happens to be flourishing in your garden at the moment or whichever vegetable is at its peak at the farmers market, be it cucumber, bell pepper, spinach or summer squash. Add to it an embellishment or two -- a finely minced shallot, some chopped parsley, a liberal sprinkling of cheese -- and a good quantity of superior olive oil and you have the perfect sauce to match a sultry summer evening.

Improvisation can, of course, lead to trouble. What you don't want is a sauce that suggests you merely cleaned out your vegetable bin. The easiest way to avoid this is to focus on simplicity and freshness. With little exception, simple is better. 

And since there is no cooking involved, a summer sauce is not the place to dispose of your bruised tomato or overgrown zucchini. After all, it is the freshness of these vegetables -- the tender crunch of the zucchini and the tangy sweetness of the tomato -- that is their virtue and what will ultimately carry the sauce.

There are a few other tips to remember when putting together a raw sauce.

* Take time to chop your ingredients properly. Finely diced, julienned or coarsely grated vegetables absorb flavors and heat better than large chunks when they are tossed with cooked pasta, and they make for a more evenly distributed, attractive sauce. If your pieces of raw vegetables are too big, you will end up with a dish that tastes like a pasta salad gone wrong.

* Nothing beats a fresh garden-ripe tomato in a raw sauce. If you're leaving the skin on, be sure to cut the tomato into bite-size pieces, no larger. I like mine peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped. This reduces the tomato to a juicy pulp. If you're working with tomatoes that are hard to peel, make a small cut in each one with a sharp paring knife and drop them into a pot of boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds to loosen the skins. If an unripe tomato is your only option, peel, seed and chop it and put it in a bowl with olive oil, salt and a smashed garlic clove and let the mixture steep for at least an hour.

* Most raw sauces benefit from sitting at room temperature for at least 30 to 60 minutes. This step tenderizes crunchy vegetables a bit and allows flavors to mingle.

* Two ingredients I use in almost every raw sauce are olive oil and cheese, both of which help bind the sauce and enhance flavor. The olive oil should be a good quality extra-virgin olive oil, though not one that is so assertive (such as unfiltered oil) that it dominates the other flavors in a sauce. As for cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pecorino, and fresh, milky mozzarella are all natural choices. Start with a judicious amount so as not to overpower the other ingredients and add more to taste.

* I don't usually use cream in a raw sauce because it seems to contradict the idea of lightness, but there are times when it works well, such as in a combination of fusilli tossed with julienned zucchini, fresh marjoram and grated cheese. A squeeze of lemon juice, or a pinch of finely grated zest, helps to cut the richness and brighten the flavor.

* Choose a pasta shape that will match your sauce. This is an important consideration for raw as well as cooked sauces. Thin spaghetti (spaghettini) is fine for a sauce of chopped fresh herbs and olive oil. But for a chunkier sauce of finely diced vegetables use a short pasta shape to trap the ingredients -- shells are ideal. 

* Cook the pasta just until it is slightly underdone -- very al dente. Drain it, then return it to the pot and add the sauce. Return the pot to the stove and allow the pasta to finish cooking, over low heat, for a minute or two as you toss. This gives the pasta a chance to absorb some of the juices and flavors of the sauce as it finishes cooking. If you are adding cheese to your sauce, do it as a last step, off the heat.

RECIPE:

Herb Garden Pasta
Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, marjoram, oregano, and parsley

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed but still whole

1 to 2 chile peppers, minced

1/3 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound spaghettini or linguine

1 to 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

Freshly grated pecorino Romano or diced ricotta salata (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the herbs, garlic, chile peppers, and oil. Set aside at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

Remove and discard the whole garlic cloves from the herb-oil mixture, add the mixture to the pasta, and toss well to combine. Season with salt to taste and toss again. Serve immediately, if desired with a sprinkling of pecorino or ricotta salata on top.

Copyright 2003 The Washington Post