Chilli Tomato Taglierini
Not every dish on this menu has a hundred years of history behind it, and I see no reason to pretend otherwise about this one. My sister Francesca invented it on a slow Tuesday, mostly out of what was left in the walk-in, and it stayed on the menu because customers kept asking for it back.
Ingredients
- 400g taglierini or tagliolini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1–2 fresh red chilies, thinly sliced (or 1 teaspoon chili flakes)
- 400g cherry tomatoes, halved
- Fresh basil
- Fine sea salt
Serves 4.
Cookware Required
- la padella larga (wide skillet)
- la pentola grande (large pot, for the pasta water)
Method
Warm the olive oil in a wide skillet, and cook the garlic and chili gently until the garlic turns pale gold. Add the cherry tomatoes and a pinch of salt, and cook over medium heat for eight to ten minutes, pressing some of them lightly with the back of a spoon as they soften, until you have a loose, chunky sauce.
Meanwhile, cook the taglierini in well-salted water -- fresh egg pasta this thin cooks in a couple of minutes, sometimes less, so stay close to the pot. Drain, reserving a little water, and toss directly into the sauce. Finish with torn basil.
Quando Va Storto
If the sauce is thin and watery rather than clinging to the pasta, the tomatoes needed more time to break down and concentrate; give them a few more minutes next time. If the taglierini turns mushy, it overcooked -- fresh, thin pasta gives you almost no margin, and it's easy to walk away for what feels like a moment and come back too late. And if the dish tastes mild despite the chili being right there, use more of it, or add it later in the cooking rather than at the very start, where a long simmer can mellow it more than you'd expect.