Pamela Sherrid's Summer Pasta

I did not mean to leave you hanging that long. In fact, I had this post stashed right up my sleeve, but then in a serious case of First World Problemitis, the other camera, the camera with which I took these photos, well, it lives with Max in Kassel, not with me in Berlin, and because he is a PC person and I am a Mac person I could not for the life of me figure out the instructions that he kept emailing me about unzipping the files of the photos he sent me and so I kept bleating, per email, back at him to just send me the photos as regular files already and he kept writing back to me asking me to download yet another program from the Internet to unzip the aforementioned files and I definitely didn't want to write a post without photos because who cares about unillustrated blog posts anyway and for Pete's sake I have standards and then he forgot his camera in Kassel when he came home this weekend and oh my goodness, are you still reading this? Seriously? Because I'm falling asleep over here and I'm the one who's typing!

All of this is to say I'm sorry it took me so long to write again. But look! I brought you spaghetti! With fresh tomatoes and basil and squidgy-soft mozzarella! I hope that makes up for something at least.

This is the kind of thing you want to make when you don't really feel like cooking anything at all, which, I find, is the way I feel all the way through July and sometimes August, too. Maybe it's too hot to cook or it's too hot to eat or maybe you simply have better things to do with your time than stand around in the kitchen, like canoeing down soft little rivers or picking sour cherries or drinking beer in outdoor cafés until the sun goes down or writing a freaking book, but since you can hardly subsist on popsicles or beer nuts alone (actually, you can, but perhaps your family cannot), if you can bring yourself to boil a pot of water for pasta you've basically done most of the work.

The rest involves dicing up a bunch of very good tomatoes, that very being italicized for a reason as your tomatoes should practically glow with flavor and burst with juice, slicing garlic (the original recipe has you dice the garlic finely, but I don't like raw garlic and never will, so I slice it, leaving it big enough for your fork to avoid, but by all means, do as you wish, because I do not choose to impose my tyranny against raw garlic against anyone, well, except for one particular individual whose mouth I like to get close to at times), and snip a whole mess of basil into a bowlful of olive oil.

This you can do first thing in the morning before you go to work, leaving it to macerate all day while you go and do whatever it is that you all do. (What is it you all do, anyway? Really. Doctors, secretaries, grant writers, students, anthropologists, mothers, who are you? Tell me below in the comments!) When you come home in the evening, all you have to do is boil your pasta and dinner is served. If you are, like me, a little more of the last-minute type, rest easy knowing that even if you don't manage to do this chopping, macerating business until two hours before dinner, you're still in pretty good shape.

The original recipe has you marinate the basil and garlic in olive oil all day long, adding the tomatoes only a few hours before dinnertime. But instead I mixed together everything at once, two hours before dinner, and went out to take a walk in these improbably beautiful fields on the very edge of Kassel. One minute you're still in the rather unlovely town of Kassel, the next you're staring at a mass of poppies in a field of wheat stalks and there is a lone horse in one corner and an allee of oak trees in another and you suddenly have the very distinct impression you are on the set of an avant-garde French film.

Once you've boiled the spaghetti and drained it and plopped it on top of your cubed, fragrant tomatoes, you chop up a ball of mozzarella (plain old cow's milk is fine) and put that on top of the hot spaghetti. The original recipe says that if you leave it to sit for a bit, the mozzarella will melt and fat will coat each strand of spaghetti. To be honest, we didn't have that kind of patience. I let the mozzarella start to melt, but we were so hungry at that point that we just dove right in, before any milk fat could coat a single strand.

Now, before there are any, uh, misunderstandings, let me be quite clear: this pasta dish would be a definite no-go in Italy. Italians are, well, let's say earnest about their spaghetti sauces and they have rules about food and they do not take kindly to mucked-up sauces or pasta salads or other abominations (their imagined words, not mine!), in fact, they can be are positively Germanic in their obsessiveness with following food rules.

Yawn. Still with me?

Now that we've gotten that disclaimer out of the way, let me just say that this is a delightful plate of spaghetti and that it had both of us tipping our pasta plates into our mouths so we could get every last drop of milky, basil-flavored, tomato-juice-tinged, garlic-imbued olive oil sauce down our greedy gullets. It was delicious. And refreshing, if you can believe it, and light and sort of exactly the kind of thing you'd want to eat on a nice summer's evening.

Summer Pasta
Serves 2

3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup of good-quality olive oil
12 basil leaves
4 ripe tomatoes
Dried spaghetti
1 ball imported mozzarella
Salt

1. Take out your largest bowl. Add the garlic. Pour in the olive oil. Snip the basil leaves with scissors into shreds over the garlic mixture or slice thinly with a very sharp knife. Let sit all day or at least an hour or two.

2. About 2 hours before serving, chop the tomatoes and add them to the bowl.

3. When you’re ready to eat, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into small cubes.

4. Drain the pasta and pour it on top of the tomato mixture. Do not stir. Spread the mozzarella on top of the pasta and toss only the pasta and cheese; the cheese will soften slightly, and the pasta will get coated with fat. Then stir up from the bottom, incorporating the tomato mixture. Season to taste and serve.

Comments

[Karen]

We make a version of this all summer long. Skip the garlic (although I may have to give it a try) but add olives and parmeasan cheese. I've even been known to throw in some left over roasted veggies. It is the essence of summer at my house.

[courtney]

This is similar to a meal we've been eating all spring and summer, except I've never thought to let it all sit together for a while before cooking the pasta. I will definitely try this variation after visiting the farmer's market for tomatoes tomorrow.

And I am mostly a mom right now, with a little bit of blogging and social media management for an interior design firm on the side.

[Marianne]

Your writing delights my heart, your recipes nourish me – vielen Dank!
Congratulations to you both on your marriage and thank you for sharing a bit of your day with your readers.

Just before travelling to Germany last month for a wedding (!) on Amrum I discovered your blog. Having been to Berlin a number of times with my Three Wise Men it was time to visit the Berlin where Berliners buy their food, relax by the lake with their children and meet friends for dinner. I visited some of your ‘Berlin on a Platter’ favourite markets and market stalls, restaurants, parks and lakes, cafes, bakeries and ice cream shops. It was such an enjoyable way to discover another layer of the city – vielen Dank for those posts as well.

Meine Oma Charlotte wohnte auf der Chausseestrasse; Berlin liegt mir daher nah am Herzen.

I work in Student Services in a high school in Vancouver.

[Anne]

Oh, if only tomatoes were ready here! We've started getting some in our CSA, but they're not very good yet. I'm a musicology grad student (and Californian) living in England.

[Stephanie]

Luisa, take heart! Four years ago, my poor, deprived husband entered our marriage as a PC boy.

I am happy to report he is now a silently enthusiastic Mac boy. (I say “silently” because he knows it would give me too much pleasure if he out and out shouted his love for Macs from the rooftops.)

As for a career, well . . . I am a classic generation X girl, and I have had three different professions in the last three years. Basically, I tend to alternate between being a journalist for CBC (our national public radio) and doing something else. Right now, I’m working at the law school from which I graduated. I help students find jobs after law school. I like it – I like helping the students and I like not being a lawyer.

[evy]

Mmmm sound so fresh and good!
Will try it--as it's over 100 degrees where I am-

Documentary film producer

[kim]

Sounds great, but the tomatoes here are more like waterbombs than the stuff spaghetti dreams are made of :/ still I might try this with cherry tomatoes, the marinade should pep it up!
I'm the webmaster for the European websites of a Japanese car manufacturer. Or I should say I normally am when I'm not down and out with mono :(

[Shannon]

American, recent law school grad, currently studying for the bar exam (which is exactly in one week). One time while watching a reality tv show (Bethenny Happily Ever After), the star of the show was reading a food blog and claimed that it was a "food time story". I immediately remarked to myself that while charming, it certainly wasn't a food time story. In fact I regard your blog as true food time stories. Delightful stories and conversations I share with a friend, despite not knowing her at all.

Every time I check my reader and see that there is a new post by you, it brings a smile to my face. Keep them coming.

[emily]

I'm a former math teacher, now Mom of 3 who loves to cook.

[EllenQ]

So many cheeses would be good here! I am, in fact an anthropologists (and medical geneticist).

[Bettina]

I made this straight away tonight and it was amazing. Actually it's not summery here at all right now, but this dish made a gray, rainy day feel like a summer holiday (and since I just got back from my summer holiday yesterday, this culinary extension was just what I needed).

You may have guessed that since I only read about this today and then still had to go and buy the ingredients after work, I did not leave the basil/garlic mixture to sit for very long. As a matter of fact, in total it macerated for about one hour. I'm sure it would be even more delicious if you left it for longer, but since the friend I cooked for and myself both don't mind strong garlic, we loved it anyway.

(I'm a PhD Candidate in Political Science and Assistant Lecturer, as well as a literature blogger)

[The Food Hunter]

What a lovely pasta dish.

[lexan]

i make this once a week in the summers!
im a harvard law school student who would love more time to cook!

[Kristi]

It really has been too hot to cook here, so this is just what I need - thank you!

(I actually *am* an anthropologist, the biological type)

[Melissa]

Looks delicious!

(archeologist)

[heather @ chiknpastry]

i do love summer pastas, and this is right up my alley. i can't get enough of pasta lately!

(here's one you may not have seen before - genetic counselor, and of course, blogger on the side!)

[Lisa]

My go-to this summer has been pasta with cherry tomatoes and whatever green vegetable is around, but the US East coast is now too hot even for that. Must try this weekend!

(meeting planner for an arts education nonprofit)

[hayley]

ooh.. i'm an econ grad student in the midwest, this would be perfect for this weather! (100'F-approaching heatwave. gah)

p.s. i've loved your blog ever since i came upon it about 3 years ago. congratulations on your wedding and may you be happy ever after; you look fantastic in the pics!

[lo]

love your blog . . . read it because it soothes my desire to be in the kitchen cooking myself, which all too often doesn't happen because i work way too much. congrats on your beautiful wedding. . .

(lawyer, usa)

[Elle]

Cheese monger who is making this for dinner tonight. Also, Congratulations and A+ on the dress!

[Krista]

This looks absolutely lovely. And I just happen to have a basil plant on the balcony that is going goofy on me, so basil in everything! (Also mint. Anyone want some mint? Turns out there IS a limit on how many mojitos I can drink.)

(lawyer; longtime lurker)

[CCP]

Indeed, good tomatoes are the key to this dish!

I'm a librarian, and yet another of your Canadian contingent. (It's "tom-ah-to", never "tom-ay-to" for me.)

Thanks as always, Luisa Weiss.

[Ulla]

Love your blog and your photographs. I pretend to be the same and stalk my family members with my camera. I am from Denmark but live in Canada. I am a Senior Citizen Advocate.

[Diana]

When summer comes along.... I will be trying this out!! Here is Aus, the sun is shining today but there is no heat!!

I'm an English teacher :)

[NOJuju]

Oh yum. Love the idea of steeping the basil and garlic all day.

~ VP of development and operations for an SEO company

[Jenn]

I can't wait to try this! I'm a self-employed technical writer/instructional designer/ trainer and project manager.

[321]

how can a pc and a mac person marry?
(i'm a mac)

[Keri]

This looks so delicious! Alas the weather here on the We(s)t Coast is less than seasonal. It's been grey and gloomy for months now, and our tomato plants look ready to give it all up, tiny green fruits and all. Sigh. Last July I clearly remember making Barbara Kafka's Moroccan Tomato soup after a particularly hot and sweaty afternoon at a job interview.
(I'm a writer-editor-mom-lapsed blogger.)

[Robyn]

This recipe sounded just perfect to me today. I called my husband (the grad student) from work this morning, immediately after I saw this post, and said, "Slice some garlic and put it in 1/2 cup of olive oil, I'll explain later, but do it now!" That way it got started early in the day I could finish it up once I got home that evening! It was delicious! The house smelled amazing when I got home, just from having the garlic and oil sitting out on the counter.

And, since you asked, I'm a microbiologist. :-)

[Nancy]

Yum. I am in business development for a large technology company by day and a foodie by night. Congratulations on your marriage and thank you for your lovely blog.

[Honeybee]

This looks delicious and easy to put together. I normally tend to shy away from dishes with mozzarella added to hot pasta but this one, I will try.

Legal Counsel/mother to 18 months old daughter.

[Maria]

Love this way of making my pasta too! I live in Italy but, having the excuse of not being Italian, I unashamedly break the rules. Having pasta this way is marvelous on hot summer days.
PS Freelance writer and mother of two.

[Asian Foodie]

Cannot wait to try this. Always on the look out for a great pasta dish

(TV producer)

[emme]

love your blog for it's delicious food and photos. thanks for sharing.

-i work in an art gallery in durban, south africa.

[Rogue Unicorn]

Long time lurker, coming out of lurker-dom:

Researcher. Writer. Cook.

[Annika]

Thank you for sharing.
You just made the decision of what's for dinner much, much easier.

[Victoria]

Hi, Luisa,

This looks delicious and especially appetizing as major heat has finally hit NYC. My cold pasta sauce idoes not have the mozzarella, which sounds so good, in it. I have a feeling this will become my favorite hot-weather pasta, while your pasta with ricotta (I beg you to post it on its own) will remain my favorite go-to-all-the-rest-of-the-time.

One of your readers, Patricia, mentioned a dish made by her cousin who lives in Italy similar to pasta Amatriciana left to sit covered for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Marcella says Italians are not obsessed with food being "piping" hot, so maybe that's not so unusual.

I wonder if you shopped at DiPalo's or Alleva when you were here. I have gone to DiPalo's forever for mozzarella and ricotta (although for ricotta I now try and get Salvatore Brooklyn, which is insanely rich and delicious).

It was lovely to see the pictures of your wedding posted by you and Molly. It was nice to see Max's face with his name, the family home in Italy you have mentioned so often, and, of course, you, wearing your perfect dress, so radiant and happy.

[Amanda]

uh, yum! it takes some kind of woman to make me feel like combining these ingredients in such a way is an epiphany. I love what you do to tomatoes when its hot. The spicy cold tomato soup from last summer, and this...

And to answer you question, I spend my days with my two-year-old mostly, playing house in a ridiculous fashion, trying too keep up my fledgling blog, and spending mornings like this (in a few minutes!) working on my own book. Here's to first books! May we all succeed as we hope.

[Tamsin]

Yummy yummy yummy! Would someone please tell the tomatoes in my garden to hurry up and ripen - they won't listen to me.

Production editor/foreign rights manager/translator but would rather be a pâtissière.

[Kim]

I have four perfectly red heirloom tomatoes on my kitchen counter calling out for this recipe and they shall have their way tonight!

Kim, Program Manager @ (friendly) Software Giant

[melissa]

This sounds like the perfect summer dish. It reminds me of the simple food my mom would make on hot summer days growing up with the vegetables she picked FROM OUR BACK YARD! Nothing like a freshly picked, perfectly ripe tomato. Now if only it would get hot enough where I'm living now to crave a dish like this, right now I could totally take down a bowl of soup, the horror.

Oh, and btw, I'm a tech girl. ;)

[Hayley Daen]

Yumm! Perfect, even for someone with a teeny-tiny kitchen, like me!
(Latin student and Serious Eats intern)

[Julia of Randomly Yours, Julia]

Maegan@TwoTables - I am a library grad student too!

It's not summer here in Australia but that dish looks delicious.

[Allison]

That sounds fabulously delicious! I'll have to make it once my garden starts producing tomatoes at a rate of better than two a week.

I'm a high school teacher, math and physics. I garden, knit, look after the kids, and read food (and knitting) blogs in the summer.

[Naomi]

I think I've come across similar recipes using basil, tomatoes and mozza which all go by the name of Caprese. Regardless of the name, they're tasty! Can't wait to try your version out, raw garlic and all (luckily my hubby likes garlic as much as me).

As for rules, aren't they meant to be broken?

Jane-of-all-trades Canadian, now a full-time mother of two jetlagged kidlets and part-time cook/housekeeper/gardener of our house. Saving your blog posts to read last after our return to England from Canada was a good choice. Your writing style is always enjoyable and I can't wait to get my hands on your book!

[Vivian]

Hi Luisa!

3 things:

1. This looks amazing. Must. eat. now.

2. Squidgy is one of my favorite words.

3. I am formerly a children's book designer (although I think I was always jealous of the STC titles). Now I am finishing my master's thesis in conservation biology and relishing being paid to chase butterflies for the summer.

[allyson]

I made a variation of this for dinner- my mozzarella was a little funky, so I left it out. It was fantastic, and perfect for these beyond hot days we've been getting in the midwest. (I'm a student/aspiring writer.)

[Sarah B.B.]

I make a similar dish in the summer, but without the mozzarella (an error I mean to now correct). Just the thought of melty-gooey milkfat coating the pasta makes me a little weak-kneed.

(and me, I'm a homeschooling mother of two who also does freelance accounting work from home in the evenings - being a work at home mom really is very close to having the best of both worlds)

[Nicole]

I just happened to pick up some beautiful tomatoes from the Farmers Market today and my local cheese shop had burrata, this combined with the fact that my garden is overflowing with basil and I started a new job this week and have no time to cook...well I thing this recipe was made for me to find this week.

The job: Newly appointed Executive Director for a non-profit

[Charlotte]

If only my husband could eat tomatoes we would so be having this for dinner tomorrow - not that it is anything like approaching summer here in Vancouver BC Canada - feels more like March right now. I love your writing Luisa - you make me smile so.
And my day job is scheduling and planning manager at a carbon steel manufacturing facility - the rest of the time I'm taking care of my 5 yr old boy, gardening, crafting, baking, reading, blogging....