In The Mood of Tomatoes

I am.
In the mood of tomatoes.
I think I’ve been eating like 2 kilos of tomatoes this week, all kind of tomatoes. And I still can eat more :)
What do I do with tomatoes?
I did spaghetti alla trapanese. That I think I will be making often.
I’ve been living on tomato salad. Just a simple one. A mix of chopped tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, salt and extra virgin olive oil. I add capers too sometimes. When we lived in Italy, I love to eat this in the summer with some fresh mozzarella.



I also really like pasta with simple tomato sauce, but M was in the mood of pasta all’amatricana. This pasta recipe originally came from the town of Amatrice in Lazio region of Italy. Originally this pasta was made with guanciale (cured pork cheeks) and pecorino romano cheese. But then it found a second home in Rome, where the tomato was added, and it has been more well known than the original version. It has became a classic in Roman cuisine. It is traditionally prepared with spaghetti or bucatini, but we were in the mood for short pasta, so we used fusili. And we didn’t have guanciale, so we used pancetta, and we didn’t have pecorino so we used parmesan instead. Not sure if this is still pasta all’amatricana then. :)



Some Kind of Pasta All’Amatricana
Serves 2

200g fusili (or spaghetti or bucatini)
100g pancetta (Italian bacon), cut into 1cm cubes
1 400g tinned tomatoes (preferably Italian brand)
A small pinch of crushed chilli flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated parmesan cheese (if you can find pecorino, it will be tastier!)

Cook the pasta according to the packet’s instruction
Heat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan, then add the bacon, fry until brown, then add the tomatoes. Let simmer around 10-15 minutes until the sauce has reduced, then season with chilli flakse, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Divide into plates and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.