By Tom Yates
Now that our larger heirlooms tomatoes have started to ripen and come in, our bounty of cherry and grape varieties have started to stock pile.
But……
I enjoy making pasta. Period. It just feels right to do so, especially when dealing with other great ingredients. I made ricotta cheese, fennel, and parmesan filled ravioli to serve with fresh roasted farmers’ market cubanelle peppers, green bell peppers, and our container grown tomatoes.
I made the egg pasta, rolled it through a pasta machine into sheets, , dotted the sheets with filling, topped the filling with a second sheet of pasta, cut it into ravioli, and set it aside to rest.
I halved the grape/cherry tomatoes, sliced the peppers, tossed them with sliced garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper, and roasted them at 350 for 30 minutes until caramelized, sweet, and tender.
When it was time to eat, I boiled the ravioli in heavily salted water until they floated to the top. They tell you when they are are done. They float.
While the ravioli cooked, I combined the tomatoes and peppers, drizzled them with a bit of olive oil, and set them aside. I spotted an over-ripe heirloom tomato perched on the window sill, and in a blaze of self ordained genius, split it in half and squeezed it over the roasted vegetables to brighten them with a burst of freshness. The added tomato juice mingled with the oil to create a warm sweet tomato vinaigrette sauce. Brilliant!.
I plated the pasta, spooned over the sauce, and topped it with fresh torn basil. I placed the meatball garnish to the side with freshly cut chives for a mild onion finish.
With my last remaining nub of parmesan reggiano, I bathed it with finely grated cheese.
It was shockingly good. Fresh. Deep. Sweet. Soft.
While I try not to cook with our fresh homegrown tomatoes, sometimes I do what I have to do.
Or want to do. Got ’em? For super concentrated sweet tomato flavor, roast them.
This article also appears on page 17 of the August 7, 2014 print issue of Ace.
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