Fusilli al Pomodoro

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If you read food blogs, you obviously enjoy food, right? I love food, and I love trying new things that take me out of my comfort zone…like anchovies. What?? I know, that’s a strange one for me as well. I am in love with Giada De Laurentiis’ show Giada in Italy. I have only caught a few episodes, but I was intrigued when I saw her basically melt an anchovy in a pan of hot oil…..

Most of us have only seen anchovies used on top of pizzas, or is that just me? 😉 This Fusilli al Pomodoro is a slightly adapted version of Giada’s Fusilli with Fresh Pomodoro that you can find on Food Network. Oddly enough, the anchovy is not included in the official recipe, lol

Aren’t these Fusilli Bucati Lunghi noodles awesome? They are long pasta spirals with a straw-like hole down the center…..

And they are curlier than my hair!! If you cannot find fusilli pasta at your local grocery store, substitute linguine or your favorite pasta. The pasta is not the important part, it’s the fresh tomatoes. Most of us are used to Classic Marinara Sauce, which is cooked and can be stored until it’s needed. Pomodoro sauce is a quick sauce that you throw together and mix with your cooked pasta right before serving.

Fusilli al Pomodoro is a light, fresh tasty pasta dish that is perfect during the hot summer months. It won’t weigh you down, and you get to use up all of the tomatoes and basil that are growing in your garden. It’s also done in about 35 minutes, start to finish…awesome!

Cook pasta according to the package directions, minus 2 minutes from the cooking time…..

Do not break the pasta, it will melt into the hot water. 😉

Grate tomatoes using a large box grater placed in a large bowl, stopping when you are left with just the skin…..

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the anchovy and smashed garlic cloves. Cook, stirring constantly until the anchovy is melted and the garlic is fragrant and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes…..

Place your garlic cloves on a work surface, place the blade of a chef knife on top of each clove, then hit the knife blade with your closed fist to smash the garlic.

Carefully add the grated tomatoes and whole bail stems, it will splatter. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes…..

Remove the garlic and basil stems and discard. Stir in the ricotta…..

Drain the pasta, reserving one cup of cooking water, and add it to the sauce. Add the Parmigiana-Reggiano and stir to completely coat the pasta. Cook for an additional 2 minutes to melt the cheese and thicken the sauce slightly. If the sauce appears too dry, add the reserved pasta water to thin…..

Stir in the chopped basil and serve with additional Parmesan and Ricotta {if desired}…..

I was already pushing my luck using ricotta cheese, so I did not desire to garnish with more, lol

Notes:

I did not add any additional salt since the anchovy and Parmigiano-Reggiano are salty enough for me.
I used three basil “tops” since that’s all I had. Three full stems will add more flavor in such a short cooking time.
Giada used Beefsteak tomatoes, I grabbed vine-ripened organic tomatoes and have no clue what type they were. Grab 4 large tomatoes and you’ll be fine.

In case you are wondering….No, this dish did not taste “fishy”. I’m not really sure if the anchovy added any flavor, but at least now I can say that I tried one. 🙂

Check out these other light and easy pasta dishes from Italy…..

Linguine alla Carbonara

Spaghetti al Limone

Shrimp Linguine {aka Shrimp Scampi}

Enjoy!!