A Sicilian Salsa Cruda

I wrote about the wonders of fresh tomatoes last summer, particularly in a raw tomato sauce, also known as salsa cruda. I've always viewed salsa crudas as exlcusive to the summer, but that's not always the case in Sicily. Just because tomato season is coming to an end doesn't mean you have to start cooking all of your sauces again.

A recipe for salsa cruda in a Messina News article published in August 2010 provides a variation that includes, but does not necessarily feature, the tomato. It calls for ten cherry tomatoes, but they are just the backdrop for bold flavors like pistachios, almonds, anchovies, capers and orange. It's great with pasta, bread or grilled meats and fish.

I've translated (with help from Google) and copied the recipe below:

SALSA CRUDA ALLA SICILIANA

Ingredients for 4 people:
 
2 tablespoons pistachio nuts 
2 tablespoons almonds
1 tablespoon capers
2 anchovies, in oil
10 Pachino cherry tomatoes 
some basil leaves 
½ an orange, peeled and cut into wedges
extra virgin olive oil
salt (if needed) and pepper.

preparation:
1. Drain the capers and rinse them again under running water.
2. Drain the anchovies.
3. Place capers and anchovies in a blender and blend together with all other ingredients. 
4. Add the oil and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe courtesy of Fragolosi 

All Hail the Tomato

Growing up in Iowa, summer really hit its stride when the tomatoes began to ripen. I knew they were ripe when I could smell the plants themselves - the earthy aroma of the vines - from the porch in our backyard, 50 feet from the garden. When the time came to pick them, my mom would take a basket and ask for my help. I'd look for the ripe ones, asking for her approval before picking the first two or three. After I got the hang of it I'd sneak away, find the biggest one on the vine, pluck it and eat it like an apple. The juices would run down my face and the seeds would stick to the collar of my shirt, but she'd only smile and encourage me.

"That's the best way to do it!" she'd say. "Eat as many as you can."

She wasn't as encouraging when I tried it with an expensive store-bought tomato in December, but it happened only once because I immediately learned that the two shouldn't even be in the same food group.

Now that it's tomato season, I urge you to do two things:

1. Pick a tomato off a vine and eat it like an apple. Don't wash it, don't bring it inside the house. Eat it right there, next to the vine, preferably barefoot.

2. Cook them as little as possible, if at all.

Fresh tomatoes are obviously great in salads and on sandwiches. They also make the best pasta sauces. Every year I buy upwards of 10 pounds of San Marzanos, core, peel and seed them and make old-fashioned sauce. This, however, takes quite a bit of time, both outside in the heat during the day acquiring them and later over the heat of the stove.

Most summer nights I'd rather eat them raw with pasta. It's a popular choice in Italy as well, often called "salsa fresca" or "salsa cruda." I dice the tomatoes, add olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs and toss it with the pasta as soon as it leaves the boiling water. The sauce is never cooked, but the pasta and residual cooking water heats everything just enough to blend the flavors.

I never measure the quantities of the ingredients I use in a salsa cruda, so it's hard to call it a recipe. However, NY Times food writer Mark Bittman provided a list of his favorite summer tomato recipes last week. One of his 12 very simple recipes is nearly identical to my own salsa cruda:

Mark Bittman's Salsa Cruda for Pasta (or Anything Else)

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, light crushed

1/2 cup chopped basil

1/2 pound pasta

Preparation

1. Mash together tomatoes, olive oil, garlic cloves and chopped basil. 

2. Let sit while you cook pasta, then fish out garlic and toss (add some pasta-cooking water if necessary). 

3. Garnish with more chopped basil.