Recipe: Sardinian-Style Raw Tomato Sauce (using cherry tomatoes and olives)

SARDINIAN-STYLE RAW TOMATO SAUCE

3/4 to 1 pound cherry tomatoes
6 black, round Greek-style olives
3 1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon aged sheep's milk cheese (preferably Fiore, crumbled or Sardo, otherwise Romano, coarsely grated)
1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, thinly slivered
2 Tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound uncooked pasta*

Wash the tomatoes in cold water, and cut each into 4 wedges or in half, if very small. Put them in a large pasta serving bowl.

Cut the olive's flesh away from the pit in little slices and add to the bowl. Add 3 Tablespoons of the olive oil and all the other ingredients. Toss a few times and allow to steep at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, better if 45 minutes or longer, before cooking the pasta.

WHEN READY TO COOK THE PASTA:
Put very hot water into a bowl large enough to hold the pasta sauce bowl. Lower the pasta bowl into it, make sure that the water does not overflow into the sauce; you want to take the chill off both the serving bowl and the sauce so that later they won't cool off the pasta too quickly. If you do not have a large bowl that will accommodate the one with sauce, place the latter over a sauce pan with barely simmering water and turn the sauce over from time to time.

Cook and drain the pasta. Transfer it immediately to the bowl with the sauce and toss thoroughly, drizzling over it a few drops of fresh olive oil. Serve at once.

*In Sardinia I had this with the local pasta, a short, narrow, tapered handmade shape called malloredus that looks like a little shell. You could substitute cavateli, fusilli or short, tubular boxed dry pasta shapes such as penne or maccheroncini.

Makes enough for 1 pound of pasta, 5 servings
From: Judi
Source: Marcella Hazan in Food & Wine magazine, 1997