Tomato Week Continues!
The beauty of tomatoes in August is that you really don’t need to cook them. In fact, you really probably shouldn’t cook them! Leaving you with absolutely no excuse as to why you shouldn’t eat treat yourself to them for lunch when the only thing the prep includes in cutting them in half.
This is another one that will become a week night staple because it’s so easy and so delicious. I chose to do it with farro because I already had some cooked up, but you could substitute any pasta really.
What really makes the dish is the freshness of the tomatoes, which in August should not be difficult. The difficult part is figuring out which vendor at the farmer's market has the best tomatoes at the lowest price! I bought 2 pints for $10 and thought I had a pretty good deal and then immediately found another vendor around the corner with 3 pints for $10. Foiled!
For this recipe, I like using cherry tomatoes in a variety of colors because as you can see… they look like little jewels!
I was pretty loose with my measurements making this and you’ll want to use your judgment based off how many tomatoes you are using and how much sauce you are hoping to make. But this recipe should make enough “sauce” to get at least two servings out of it, provided you don’t accidentally eat half of it while you’re prepping like I did. Irresistible!
“Give it to Me Raw” Tomato Sauce with Farro
Makes 2 servings
- 10-12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed with a press (or most to taste)
- 1 cup basil loosely packed and then chopped by hand (or more to taste)
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cooked farro
- 3-4 pieces prosciutto cotto (Italian-style ham) roughly torn by hand
- Grated Parmigiano-reggiano (to taste)
You’re going to be amazed by how easy this is! Throw the tomatoes quarters into a mixing bowl. Crush the two cloves of garlic directly into the mixing bowl. Add your chopped basil. Add your olive oil. Mix thoroughly. Add some salt and pepper to taste and mix again.
Let it sit over night out of the fridge at room temperature. This will allow the tomatoes to release their juices and for the flavors to meld, creating a seriously delicious “sauce.”
Before you head to work, pull out your lunch container. Pile up some of your pre-cooked farro. Heap some of the sauce on top. Tear some prosciutto cotto and throw that in there as well. (Add more than I say. Add less than I say. Add none at all if you're a vegetarian. It's up to you.) Maybe sprinkle some Parmigiano-reggiano on top of it all. Lid that bad boy up and head to the office. Don’t bother putting this in the fridge when you get there. Let those flavors keep melding at room temp!
At lunch, mix the sauce into the farro, sit at your desk, take a bit, close your eyes and suddenly feel like you’re sitting next to Gwyneth and Jude on a yacht off Ischia in “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Minus that whole murder, identity theft aspect.