With the summer temperatures soaring the last thing you want to do is to stay in the kitchen cooking for hours. This tasty pasta dish is light and quick to make. You’ll find it in many Abruzzese kitchens in summer months.

I prefer using farfalle or pipe pasta shape for this recipe.

Pera d’Abruzzo tomato

The best tomatoes to use for this dish are pera d’Abruzzo, which are fleshy and easy to peel. Cut the tomatoes (one per person) into thick slices, peel them, remove the seeds, then cut them into large cubes. Season with good quality extra virgin olive oil, salt and add a few basil leaves. Leave the tomatoes in a deep bowl for 30 minutes to soak up the flavours.

In the meantime, cook the pasta “al dente”, drain and leave for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Mix the pasta with the tomatoes and serve. This dish pares well with a glass of cold cerasuolo d’Abruzzo or iced water flavoured with fresh basil.

Buon appetito!

By Gino Primavera. Gino is a revered expert on Abruzzo’s traditional cuisine. His books include Butto la pasta, Mangio la foglia. He is also a co-author of La cucina della Maiella and Bevo la foglia.

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