Linguine with Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Sauce

Using fresh rather than cooked tomatoes brings a lightness to a pasta dish, which seems appropriate in these dying days of summer. The freshness of the tomatoes and torn basil, accompanied by some serious olive oil and generosity of seasoning, makes this a tasty lunch or light supper.

Ingredients

• 5-6 ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 a clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• Good quality extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
• 100g Mozzarella cheese, cut into 1cm cubes
• (Optional) 100g bacon lardons
• 300g dried linguine

Serves 3 - 4

Instructions

• Peel the tomatoes by scoring a cross in the bottom of each tomato, then covering with boiling water. After 5 minutes, drain the water and replace with cold water. Peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds and chop finely (try to avoid too much liquid in the mixture by scraping out the seeds as much as you can). Place the chopped tomatoes into a bowl
• Add 2 - 3 good slugs of good quality extra virgin olive oil to the tomatoes, then add the garlic and season well with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then leave the flavours to mix for at least 30 minutes
• Cook 300g of dried linguine in well-salted, boiling water according to the instructions on the packet.
• (Optional) In the meantime, add a tablespoon of oil to a frying pan, heat until moderately hot and fry the bacon lardons until crispy and golden, then drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in a low oven
• Drain the linguine when cooked and set to one side. Add the tomato mixture to the warm pan and heat through gently for 2-3 minutes. Add the linguine to the pan and mix well to combine
• Transfer the linguine in warmed dishes. Top each dish with cubes of mozzarella, bacon lardons (optional) and torn basil leaves. Serve immediately

Linguine with Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Sauce

(including crispy bacon lardons)