Hot summer days call for a fresh approach to pasta, treating it like delicate salad leaves.
Culinary expert Jeanne Caròla Francesconi offers several raw tomato sauce recipes in her book on Neapolitan cuisine, perfect for warm weather.
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One standout method is vermicelli all'insalata, meaning "like a salad."
This technique emphasizes tossing pasta gently yet thoroughly with generous, well-cut condiments and dressings, rather than serving a traditional heavy pasta salad.
A featured variation combines two techniques: warm softened courgettes and a room-temperature raw tomato salsa.
Courgettes are softened in olive oil with spring onions, while a juicy mixture of tomato, garlic, and herbs provides fresh contrast.
Tomatoes benefit from resting for about 20 minutes to release their natural juices.
Chef Valentina Harris calls this style her sugo di vacanza, or holiday sauce, where diced tomatoes macerate in oil and herbs for hours while everyone enjoys the beach.
A diverse selection of tomatoes yields the best results, including sweet cherry tomatoes, fleshy varieties, and firmer green tomatoes for added texture.
Smaller dark green, pale green, or yellow courgettes are preferred for their natural sweetness and juiciness.
Both long and short pasta shapes work well.
Thin strands like spaghetti, spaghettini, capelli d'angelo, and maccheroncini di campofilone are suitable, as are textured shapes like farfalle, radiatori, fusilli, orecchiette, or cavatelli.
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Ingredients for Four Servings
The dish requires two large courgettes, three to four spring onions, 400g of ripe tomatoes, and seven tablespoons of olive oil.
