Recipe: Deconstructed Tomato Pesto Fettuccini

This recipe is my favorite way to enjoy the tomatoes when they are just picked from the vine. It is a very simple dish that highlights the flavor of the fresh tomatoes. It's a pesto and tomato fettuccini, deconstructed.

Ingredients:

• 15-20 medium tomatoes (Roma varieties are best)
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup chopped basil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup Parmesan Reggiano or Gruyere cheese
• 9 ounces of fresh fettuccini pasta

Directions:

Prepare a bath of ice water in a large bowl or in the sink. In a large pot, boil water for blanching tomatoes. Drop tomatoes into vigorously boiling water for 30 seconds for smaller tomatoes or up to one minute for larger tomatoes. You'll know when they are ready when the skins start to crack. Do not leave in the boiling water for more than one minute or you will overcook the tomatoes. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and drop them into the ice bath. Blanch in batches of 5-6 tomatoes at a time. Alternatively you can use a blancher.

Remove the skins from the tomatoes and core the tomatoes with a small paring knife. After all of the tomatoes have been blanched, skinned and cored, quarter each tomato and remove the seeds. Place the finished tomatoes in a bowl, cover and set aside.

Toast the almonds in a pan over medium heat, stirring constantly to keep the almonds from burning. Remove from pan as soon as they are toasted and set aside.

Boil pasta according to label directions, drain and set aside. In the pot used to boil pasta heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and basil and stir for a minute or so. Do not overcook the garlic. Stir in tomatoes. Heat for two minutes and then add pasta and cheese and stir until mixed. Heat for another minute or two, until everything is hot. Stir in almonds and serve immediately. Garnish with additional cheese and chopped basil.

This recipe was written by Anne Savage and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on Sept. 20, 2011.