I first encountered this sauce while working in Umbria, and it’s one of my favorite summertime pastas. To me, this is Mother Nature’s last blast, her crescendo before fall. This is where you take everything she has to give, all those glorious summer ingredients, and toss them together to let the wonderful flavors marry. Then you just barely heat everything up, never actually letting the veggies cook, so they maintain their fresh flavors. Punctuate this with a salty grate of ricotta salata and say, “Mmmmm . . .”

　　

Ingredients

serves: 6 to 8

　　2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, assorted colors preferably, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

　　1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

　　1 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice

　　1 bunch of pencil asparagus, cut into 1/4-inch rounds

　　2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped

　　5 sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves chopped

　　8 basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade (see page 58)

　　1/4 cup red wine vinegar

　　Pinch of crushed red pepper

　　1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

　　Kosher salt

　　1 recipe Chef Anne’s All-Purpose Pasta Dough (page 102), cut into tagliolini or 1 pound fresh tagliolini

　　Big fat finishing oil

　　1 cup coarsely grated ricotta salata (dried salted ricotta cheese)

　　

Step 1

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, zucchini, asparagus, garlic, oregano, basil, vinegar, red pepper, and olive oil and season generously with salt; taste to make sure it’s delicious and adjust the seasoning if needed. Let the sauce sit for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to marry.

　　

Step 2

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.

　　

Step 3

Add two-thirds of the sauce to a large wide pot and bring to medium-high heat—the idea is to heat up the sauce without really cooking it so you maintain the raw integrity of the veggies.

　　

Step 4

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until it is tender but still toothsome, 2 to 3 minutes—you don’t want any limp noodles. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce, along with 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water, and stir vigorously. If the pasta needs it, add the reserved sauce (if it’s not needed, then you have lunch for tomorrow!). Cook the pasta together with the sauce until the pasta water has evaporated. Give the pasta a drizzle of big fat finishing oil and stir vigorously again. Divide among individual serving dishes and top with the ricotta salata.

　　Cook Like a Rock Star