Written by Rula Eskaf
Vegan prep.
Prep time: 25 minutes
Difficulty level: 2
Suggested use: simple dinners, date night (warning: possible garlic breath), good for leftovers.
When I graduated high school, my family decided to use the event as an excuse to travel to Italy. We went to visit family and tour the country. Italy has some of the most amazing food, but the best dish I ate was made by an old Italian grandmother: farfalle OGT (olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes).
I stood over her shoulder and watched as she prepared the meal. She had a single large pot, one cutting board, a single knife, and a colander. She moved slowly as she gathered the ingredients she’d need for the pasta, swatted my hand away every time I offered to help and scolded (I presume by the tone of her voice) me in Italian. She gathered her pasta, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil, then set to work.
About half an hour from when she started preparing, we were sitting at her table eating one of the freshest, simplest meals I’ve ever had. That was many years ago, but I still cook this pasta recipe twice a month, never straying too far from the way she taught me to make it.
Ingredients:
1 box of your preferred brand of pasta. (I make it with farfalle, but any pasta with a large surface area will work well for this)- $1.49/box
1 package of Nature Sweet cherry tomatoes. (If you prefer a different tomato, you can use three standard Roma tomatoes, two beefsteak tomatoes, or half of a 1 lb. Heirloom tomato.)- $2.99/package
4-5 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Roughly six large basil leaves. (if you don’t have fresh, dried is just fine, you’ll just want to add it while the tomatoes are cooking to get the best flavor.)
How to make:
Take your large-sized pot, and add about 5-6 cups of cold water. Put the pot on the stove with the fire on high until the water boils, then add two pinches of salt. When the water is boiling, lower your heat and add your pasta, leaving the pot uncovered. Cook the pasta for 11 minutes. That will give you a nice, al dente pasta.
After the pasta is done cooking, drain it into your colander, gently tossing it to allow air to cool the pasta and stop it from cooking further. Add a slight drizzle of olive oil to keep the pasta from getting stuck together. Set that off to the side until it is time to add the pasta to the sauce.
While you wait for the water to boil, start preparing your ingredients on your cutting board. If you are using cherry tomatoes, simply slice the tomatoes in half. Put the cut tomatoes in a bowl and set it off to the side to clear space on your cutting board.
Next, take your 4-5 cloves of garlic and peel them. If you have a mortar and pestle, use them to crush your garlic. If not, take your knife and lay the flat end of it on top of the garlic, one clove at a time. Forcefully but carefully, crush the garlic clove under the flat of the knife, then take the crushed garlic and mince it.
Once you have your garlic minced and your tomatoes sliced, take your now-empty pot and set it over the fire at medium heat. Add your ¼ cup of olive oil (if you feel your pasta or sauce may be too dry, add a little bit more olive oil), and let that heat for about 30 seconds.
Once the olive oil is heated, add your 4 cloves of minced garlic. Stir it around in the olive oil for about 1 minute, careful not to let it brown or burn.
When the garlic is partially cooked, add in your tomatoes. The oil in the pot will sizzle and pop, so add the tomatoes carefully as to not burn yourself. Mix the tomatoes in well with the garlic and oil. While cooking the tomatoes down, start adding salt and pepper to taste. (This is also the step where you would add your dried basil if you were using it.)
When those ingredients start to simmer together, lower the heat to low and begin preparing your basil. Take your washed and dried leaves and roll them together lengthwise. Once you have your basil rolled, simply take your knife and chop down the length of the roll horizontally. This will result in nice ribbons of basil.
When your tomatoes, garlic, and oil have cooked down and it looks like there is a good amount of liquid in the pot, add in your pasta, as well as half of the basil ribbons. Gently coat the pasta with your tomato sauce until it is evenly distributed.
Grab your dish and serve the pasta, adding a few ribbons of basil on top. Grate parmesan over it, if desired, and enjoy.
Pasta Farfalle OGT. Karsten Moran/The New York Times
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