Cookies Preferences
I love a good tomato sauce - it's a dish I often base my opinion of an Italian restaurant on. This one is simple, fresh, and full of surprises. I love the olive breadcrumbs for a little texture and the marinated mozzarella is an excellent addition although torn pieces of the plain stuff would do too.
1/2 cup olive oil
1kg (2.2 lbs) cherry tomatoes of different colors and sizes
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
pinch of salt
pinch of chili flakes
500g spaghetti
handful of fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup black olive crumb (see recipe here)
for the marinated mozzarella:
230g (just less than 1/2 pound) fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup labneh or sour cream
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
In a large pot heat the oil and add the cherry tomatoes, cook them until they're bursting before adding the garlic, salt, and chili flakes. Continue to cook until some of the tomatoes are completely mushed and others still maintain some shape. I like a bit of texture here. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions, keeping a bit of the pasta water for making the final dish.
To make the marinated mozzarella simply cream together all of the ingredients.
Once the tomato sauce is where you want it to be, add the spaghetti, half the basil and half of the breadcrumbs. Toss well adding up to 1/2 cup of the pasta water to loosen it up. To serve add the remaining basil, breadcrumbs, and dollop with the marinated mozzarella.
