Recipe: Spaghetti with Salsa Cruda

A PASTA SAUCE THAT COOKS ITSELF
From: the American Institute for Cancer Research

Labor Day doesn't have to be celebrated with the grill. Hot weather and an abundant supply of ripe tomatoes create the perfect time for an easy, uncooked Italian pasta sauce called salsa cruda, or raw sauce. The heat from the cooked pasta mixed with it brings out the rich flavors of the ingredients.

If the holiday just doesn't seem right without grilled meats, offer pasta with salsa cruda as a side dish.

Salsa cruda can be varied like any pasta sauce by adding chopped olives, capers, anchovy, sun-dried tomatoes, or any other favorite ingredient. Whatever else goes into it, lush, ripe tomatoes are essential. Tomatoes without flavor means a sauce without flavor. If they are juicy and flavorful, any type of fresh tomato - regular or plum - work well.

Like other light sauces, salsa cruda goes well with more than pasta. Try it with grilled, broiled, or baked fish like salmon, swordfish, or halibut. Or use it on slices of grilled or toasted garlic bread to make bruschetta. Add crumbled feta cheese or diced mozzarella to the sauce and sprinkle it over a salad, or with cooked bulgur to make tabouleh.

Summer is the best time to take advantage of fresh tomatoes, not only for their perfect flavor but for their health benefits as well. Lycopene, the substance that gives tomatoes, watermelon, guava, as well as red and pink grapefruit their characteristic color, seems to be a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes molecules that would otherwise react with and damage cells. Lycopene seems to reduce growth of prostate cancer cells, for example.

In a large Harvard University study, the risk of prostate cancer was a third lower in men who ate the most tomato products compared to men who ate the least, and many researchers believe lycopene was the reason. Later studies also linked greater consumption of foods high in lycopene to a lower risk of prostate and other cancers.

A summer salsa cruda is a good way to get great nutrition as well as the great taste of tomatoes at their flavor peak. The hearty flavor of whole-grain pasta goes particularly well with this sauce. Although sprinkling grated cheese on pasta seems almost instinctive, salsa cruda is usually served without it.

Spaghetti with Salsa Cruda
Makes 5 servings

1 1/4 lb. plum tomatoes, seeded and diced, about 4 cups
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat parsley
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh basil
3/4 lb. whole-grain spaghetti
Freshly ground pepper

In a glass, ceramic, or plastic bowl, combine the tomatoes with the salt, onion and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water and cook the spaghetti al dente according to package directions. Drain the spaghetti and turn it into a large, warm serving bowl. Toss the pasta with the remaining tablespoon of oil to keep it from sticking together.

Mix the parsley and basil into the tomatoes. Season generously with pepper. Pour the salsa cruda over the warm pasta. Toss the entire mixture to blend well. Serve immediately.

Per serving: 330 calories, 10 g. total fat (1 g. saturated fat), 55 g. carbohydrate, 11 g. protein, 10 g. dietary fiber, 483 mg. sodium.