Blistered Cherry Tomato Malfatti

Difficulty:

1/5

Ease of Preparation: Medium

Yield: Serves 4-6

Blistered Cherry Tomato Malfatti

While malfatti may translate to “roughly made”, these irregular little noodles are anything but a perfect match to the juicy, summery cherry tomatoes and the fresh, herbaceous basil pesto. This is a pasta that screams summer!

Ingredients:

Pasta:

3 cups (710 ml) flour, plus extra if needed
4 eggs
8 egg yolks
1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil

Pesto:

4 cloves garlic
¼ cup (60 ml) pine nuts, toasted
2 bunches basil (2 cups/470 ml packed leaves)
½ cup (120 ml) finely grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup (60 ml) finely grated pecorino cheese
½ cup (120 ml) extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Blistered Tomatoes:

2 pounds (907 g) cherry tomatoes, mixed colors
3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 lemon, juice

Garnish:

Parmesan cheese

Method:

For the Pasta:

On a clean work surface, pour flour into a mound.

Make a well in the middle and add salt, oil, eggs, and yolks.

Using a fork, whisk the eggs and slowly incorporate the flour until a wet sticky dough forms.

Knead for 5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut dough into quarters. One piece at a time, use a rolling pin to roll into a thin sheet. Cut the sheet with a sharp knife into long 1-inch (2.5 cm) wide, ribbons.

Transfer to a baking sheet and sprinkle with more flour.

For the Pesto:

In a food processor, combine the garlic, pine nuts, basil, parmesan, pecorino, and season with salt. Pulse until chopped.

While processing, slowly stream in the olive oil until a paste forms.

For the Blistered Tomatoes:

Toss tomatoes with oil, salt, and pepper and reserve.

To Serve:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and preheat a cast iron pan until very hot.

Cook the pasta for 3 minutes, until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, add cherry tomatoes to the very hot cast iron pan.

Allow tomatoes to char and blister, around 20-30 seconds, then remove from pan.

Spritz with the lemon juice.