I had a new to me recipe pop into my mailbox today and couldn’t resist since I did not have a dinner plan other than a Greek salad, this is another chef’s version of pasta with quick sauces that I have tried lately, the other being Scott Conant’s $24 spaghetti probably priced because he uses the best tomatoes for his tomato sauce, fresh San Marzano tomatoes and buys them by the tons. Chef Darroze’s version uses all of the same ingredients, but the San Marzano tomatoes are of the readily available canned variety. The luxury item in this dish is the burrata cheese, I love the stuff and happy to serve this dish. Not at all sure about some of the terminology as in “emboss the basil” or “make a few broths”, but just moved right along from that…
Ingredients slightly adapted
Feeds 6 people
500 g of linguine, about 1 pound
2 boxes of San Marzano DOP tomatoes, about 13 and 1/2 ounce sized boxes
2 basil leaves with branches, hmm, 2 stems?
2 cloves of garlic
1 Puglia burrata
20 g olives taggiasche or kalamata olives
1 cl first cold-pressed olive oil
50 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano, almost 2 ounces???
Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
*optional pinches of red pepper flakes and a little piece of parmesan rind
Recipe as written by chef Hélène
“Wash the basil and pat it dry, then thin it out. Reserve a few small leaves on one side and the branches on the other. Emboss the rest of the leaves. Peel the garlic cloves. Open the cans of tomatoes and pour the contents into a large saucepan. Add the basil sprigs and the garlic cloves. Heat over low heat. When the mixture begins to make a few broths, mash the whole tomatoes with the palm of a ladle. Then add the olive oil and season with salt. Simmer gently for about ten minutes, then remove the basil sprigs. During this time, bring 5 liters of salted water to a boil in a large saucepan. When the water boils quickly, add the linguine. Cook for 4 minutes, then drain them and pour them immediately into the tomato sauce. Cook for about 5 more minutes over medium heat, until al dente. Adjust the salt seasoning if necessary. Add the chopped basil and taggiasche olives. Mix gently. Divide the linguine between four deep plates, open the burrata in half, then sprinkle small pieces over the pasta. Give a pepper mill. Pour a bead of olive oil and add the small basil leaves. Serve immediately. Each guest should add Parmesan according to their taste.”
Smash hit with Michael!
Cucina Magia 
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