Ferragosto, the August 15th holiday has religious connotations and has the great tradition of taking time off 

Most Italians see Ferragosto as the culmination of summer vacation. This is the time to take at least a few days off work, to go to the beach or in the mountains or simply have dinner with friends al fresco. That’s what we’re doing with our neighbor and we have to prepare a perfect dish for many of us, fresh and that we can prepare in advance.

It is a pureed raw tomato sauce that can be customized to taste.

There are three basic ingredients: tomatoes or beautiful ripe cherry tomatoes (I used my favorites,

the ox heart because they are very sweet, pulpy, and with few seeds), excellent extra virgin olive

oil, and a pinch of salt.

INGREDIENTS

Serving 5 persons

800 g = 2 pounds of tomatoes

300 g = 1 pound of cherry tomatoes

2 tbs.of EVOO

1 clove garlic

salt to taste

4 basil leaves

½ cup green olives

1 tbsp. capers

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash the tomatoes and cherry tomatoes and cut them into pieces.

Place them in a colander, salt them and let them lose the water for about ten minutes.

If they are still watery, mash them with a fork so that they let the water out well. This operation is

important to obtain a dense raw tomato sauce, suitable for seasoning pasta.

If you like you can pour the tomatoes and cherry tomatoes into a blender with a drizzle of oil until a sauce is obtained.

Slice the olives in half.

Add the garlic clove, olives, capers, and basil to the tomatoes and refrigerate the sauce until ready to use it.

According to taste,  you can add fresh aromatic herbs, from the classic basil that always goes well with tomato, to marjoram, to oregano.

The raw tomato sauce allows you to preserve the aroma and flavor of fresh ripe tomato and adding

cherry tomatoes make it sweeter and more intense.

When it’s dinner time, cook the pasta drain it, and mix it with the sauce. Buon Ferragosto !!!

If you like fresh pasta sauces do not forget the one with celery and garlic. Link to the recipe click here