Orecchiette with Sun-dried and Fresh Cherry Tomatoes
I made this recipe by chance. I needed to prepare something easy and quick for lunch, but I had very little left in the fridge: only cherry tomatoes and some sun-dried tomatoes in oil from Calabria, plus half a package of fresh orecchiette. Why not try to make somehting different than the usual tomato sauce? Moreover, my husband adores sun-dried tomatoes. Well, a recipe created by chance was an incredible success at home and my husband now begs me to cook it almost every week!
Ingredients
250 g orecchiette
250 g cherry tomatoes, cut into wedges
6-7 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, sliced
2 tbsps extravergine olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
a pinch of dried oregano
2-3 basil leaves
salt to taste
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Serves 2
In a large frying pan, brown the garlic powder in the heated oil. Toss the sun-dried tomatoes into the frying pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes, oregano and chili pepper and cook covered for about 10-15 minutes or till the cherry tomatoes are tender, adding water if necessary to prevent tomates from sticking onthe bottom of the pan. Add the basil leaves and salt to taste.
In the meantime, you have brought water to the boil in a large saucepan. When water boils, add a pinch of coarse salt (according to taste) and the orecchiette. Let them cook till al dente (or according to instructions). Drain them and stir them into the frying pan together with the tomatoes sauce. Sauté for about 1-2 minutes, then serve.
According to taste, you can serve the orecchiette with grated pecorino cheese.
Orecchiette con Pomodori Secchi e Pomodorini Freschi
Questa ricetta mi è venuta per caso. Dovevo preparare qualcosa di facile e veloce per pranzo, ma in frigo avevo veramente poco: solo dei pomodorini ciliegia e qualche pomodoro secco sott’olio dalla Calabria, più una mezza confezione di orecchiette fresche. Perché non provare a fare qualcosa di diverso dal solito sugo al pomodoro? Oltretutto, mio marito va pazzo per i pomodori secchi. Beh, una ricetta inventata a caso è diventata un successo e ora mio marito mi chiede di fargliela tutte le settimane!
Ingredienti
250 g di orecchiette fresche
250 g di pomodorini ciliegia tagliati in quarti
6-7 pomodori secchi sott’olio tagliati a striscioline
2 cucchiai di olio extravergine di oliva
1/4 di cucchiaino di aglio in polvere
1/4 di cucchiaino di peperoncino
una presa di origano
2-3 foglie di basilico
sale q.b.
Tempo di preparazione: 10 minuti
Tempo di cottura: 20-30 minuti
Per 2 persone
Scaldare l’olio in una padella e far imbiondire l’aglio. Aggiungere i pomodori secchi e far cuocere per 2-3 minuti. Aggiungere i pomodori freschi, l’origano e il peperoncino e cuocere coperto per 10-15 minuti o finché i pomodorini ciliegia non risultano morbidi, aggiungendo acqua, se necessario, per impedire che i pomodori si attacchino. Aggiungere le foglie di basilico e salare a piacere.
Nel frattempo, avrete messo a bollire l’acqua per le orecchiette. Quando l’acqua bolle, salare con il sale grosso e versare le orecchiette. Cuocere al dente (o secondo il gusto), scolare e versare nella padella con il sugo dei pomodori. Far saltare per circa 1-2 minuto e servire.
Volendo, si possono servire le casarecce con pecorino grattugiato.
Featured as Today’s Special on Foodpress on 20th December 2010
Sun Dried Tomatoes
I love quick and easy recipes like this that deliver a lots of flavour and the combination of sun dried and fresh tomatoes is a great idea.
Mandy
Thanks Mandy! You’re right about quick and easy recipes: and, as sometimes you don’t have so much time to spend in the kitchen, you need to hurry up without giving up flavor!
I love it when that happens! Simple and delicious. And, it’s the most fun, really, when you just throw a bunch of things you have laying around the kitchen to make something sublime. Yay!
Absolutely. Improvisation is the best part!
this pasta dish packs a lot of appeal! I will remember your recipe next time my girlfriends come over for movie night, perfect with a glass of good vino!
Red wine, of course!!
Beautiful! I just cooked pipe rigate with sundried tomatoes for my tomorrow post, what a dream dish!
I’m curious to read it!!
I’ve just subscribed to your blog, so I won’t miss it!
This is an excellent salad, the ingredients are so yummy
Thanks!
I love sun-dried tomatoes! Looks great.
Thank you! And thanks for stopping by! I love sun-dried tomatoes, too. Try them as an accompaniment to cheese or sandwiches. They’re great!
Yumm!!!
The picture looks great, and the recipe is quite easy, so I’ll gladly try it in the near future.
If I may add, the powdered garlic doesn’t sound like the healthiest of choices. It’s better to keep some frozen garlic, it’s much healthier and tastes better (no preservatives, and it still has all the medical qualities).
Also, I think that my little twist to this would be to keep half of the fresh tomatoes and add them fresh.
This way you still get the tomatoes healthy juices, and three kinds of tomato flavors to your dish.
Thank you very much for the interesting recipe.
Itai Matos (TFIM)
Thanks for stopping by.
About the garlic: I usually employ fresh garlic cloves because I’m not fond of garlic powder, but for this recipe I needed a much stronger flavor (garlic powder is indeed stronger than fresh garlic). If you want to use fresh garlic, you can crush it and let it fry in the oil. In this way, it releases more flavor than if it’s left whole. As for the fresh tomatoes, it’s a good idea. I like fresh tomatoes to season pasta, especially in summer. I think I’ll try it next time I make this sauce.
This looks so good! I really like how you stay true to the nature of the recipe and write it in Italian too! ho fame…!
Thanks! You know, when I started to plan the blog I wanted to write only in Italian, then only in English. So in the end, I thought I’d better use both the languages.
Rita! Perchè non mi avevi detto che avevi un blog??
Mettiamo su un ristorante?
Ciao.
Perché no? Io ci sto!
Vedo che qualcuno ha fatto la spia…