Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes & Mint
Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes & Mint has been described as both exquisite and simple. And I have to agree. Cherry tomatoes and chilli flakes are briefly cooked in olive oil subtly flavoured with garlic, then tossed with capers and mint. Light but full of flavour, the sauce takes no longer than the time it takes to boil the spaghetti or linguine. Wonderful for a quick but satisfying lunch or elegant pasta course.
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I have one simple test for whether a pasta dish is suitable for lunch. Can I prep and cook the sauce ingredients in the time it takes to boil dried pasta? Happily, this beautifully simple dish of Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes & Mint passes my test with flying colours. So long as you’re okay with multi-tasking, that is.
It’s based on a recipe I only recently discovered in Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes. Someone gave me a signed copy of the book years ago, but I’d only given it a cursory look. So, after picking it up to use as a laptop rest (sorry, Rick!) I decided to go through the book methodically, looking at every recipe. Also at the back of my mind was the thought that lunchtime was coming up and I wanted something fresh and tasty.
As soon as I came across ‘Pasta with Tomatoes, Capers and Mint’, a short, unillustrated recipe at bottom of a page, I knew I wanted to make a version it.
PASTA WITH FRESH TOMATOES & MINT
Stein’s recipe was inspired by a meal he ate in a Palermo café.
‘It was full of expensively suited men wearing dark glasses and kissing each other ostentatiously on the cheek. I was much impressed, and almost distracted from noticing how exquisite this simple pasta dish was.’
When I was in Sicily, I didn’t go to Palermo. And the dodgy men hanging around trying to get money out of us in bizarre ways were casually dressed. But I suspect they were members of the same organization.
I did love Sicily’s landscape, architecture, and food though. Particularly memorable was a wonderful swordfish dish flavoured with mint. As it’s one of my favourite herbs, I loved the idea of mint in a tomato pasta sauce instead of the more usual basil.
After making the recipe, I have to agree that this incredibly simple pasta dish really is exquisite. Fresh and light, but full of flavour.
You’ll find suggested ingredient amounts and instructions for my version in the recipe card at the end. But it’s really just a guide you should adapt to your own tastes. Mine serves one person, so just multiply up if you’re feeding more.
NASTURTIUM CAPERS
The most obvious difference in my version is that I’ve left capers out of the recipe description. Stein says the dish is usually made with special capers from the island of Pantelleria. You won’t be surprised to learn I don’t have any of those. But I think my alternative is rather special too: homemade Nasturtium Capers.
Although the pickled seeds of the colourful and common garden plant are not related to capers at all, I think their piquant flavour is a perfectly acceptable and economical substitute. Making them is an easy and satisfying project too. As you can see from the image above, nasturtium seeds are larger than capers, so I usually roughly chop before adding to dishes.
Whether you use true capers or the homemade version, I think they bring a welcome acidity and salty savouriness.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Besides the mint leaves and capers, you’ll also need:
- Pasta. For the light sauce, long thin pasta is most apt. Stein uses spaghetti, but I prefer linguine.
- Cherry tomatoes. Small, sweet tomatoes are best for this dish as they’re barely cooked.
- Sugar. Gives a little extra sweetness to the tomatoes but can be omitted.
- Extra virgin olive oil. Important for flavour and texture.
- Garlic. Skinned then flattened with the flat side of a knife. It’s used to flavour the oil, then discarded.
- Red pepper powder or chilli flakes. Use mild or hot. I like gochugaru or Aleppo.
- Seasoning. Salt and pepper.
HOW TO MAKE PASTA WITH FRESH TOMATOES & MINT
I won’t give full instructions here, as it’s all in the recipe card. But I will say a few words about preparing the tomatoes as it’s another way in which my version slightly differs from the original.
Stein completely removes the skin and seeds from his tomatoes. While you could leave them, I go for a halfway house. I pour boiling water over (the kettle’s on for the pasta anyway) then drain and cut in half. I stick my thumb in each half to squidge out the seeds. At the same time, I push off the skins. If some seeds or skin remain, that doesn’t bother me. If you want to be more precise and don’t mind the extra time, you could cut a cross on the bottom of each tomato before covering in boiling water, completely remove the skins, and be sure to extract all the seeds. It’s up to you.
To make the dish, you put the garlic clove and olive oil in a small deepish frying pan over medium heat. Cook until the garlic’s golden then discard it. Now the tomatoes go in, along with the chilli flakes, a pinch of salt, a grind of black pepper, plus the sugar if you’re using it. Cook very briefly (Stein says 30 seconds to a minute), just until the tomatoes are warm and starting to release their juices. Finally, stir in the capers and mint, taste to see if it needs more seasoning then toss the drained pasta through the sauce.
And that’s it, transfer to a bowl and eat straight away.
SERVING PASTA WITH FRESH TOMATOES & MINT
To appreciate what I agree is the dish’s exquisite simplicity, I don’t eat anything else with it like bread or Parmesan. But it is improved, I think, with a drizzle more olive oil and a sprinkle of extra mint, black pepper, and chilli flakes.
Fresh, light, but full of satisfying flavour, Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes & Mint has become a regular lunchtime favourite in my house this summer. Give it a try, and I think you’ll love it too.
Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes & Mint
Cherry tomatoes and chilli flakes are briefly cooked in olive oil subtly flavoured with garlic, then tossed with capers and mint. Light but full of flavour, the sauce takes no longer than the time it takes to boil the spaghetti or linguine. Wonderful for a quick but satisfying lunch or elegant pasta course.
Adapted from a recipe by Rick Stein.
Ingredients
- salt (to taste)
- 100 g dried linguine or spaghetti
- 125 g cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (skinned then slightly flattened with the flat side of a knife)
- ¼ - ½ tsp chilli or red pepper flakes (hot or mild)
- black pepper (to taste)
- 1 pinch sugar (optional)
- ½ tbsp capers (or pickled nasturtium seeds: see Recipe Notes)
- 1 handful mint leaves (roughly chopped or shredded)
Instructions
-
Boil a kettle of water and pour into a large saucepan, adding a handful of salt.
Add the pasta and cook until done to your liking (9 - 12 min), stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Tip: complete steps 2 - 4 while the pasta is cooking.
-
Optional (only if you want to remove the tomato skins, you can leave them on)
Put the tomatoes in a heatproof bowl or jug and pour over more boiling water from the kettle (cutting an 'x' on the bottom of each will make it easier to remove the skins). Leave for 1 minute then drain.
-
Cut the tomatoes in half then use your thumb to push out and discard the seeds.
If you poured boiling water over them as per the step above, push off the skins at the same time.
Chop roughly or just cut each half in half again, depending how chunky you want them.
-
Put 1 tbsp of olive oil and the prepared garlic in a small, deepish frying pan over medium heat.
Cook until the garlic is golden then remove and discard it.
Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the chilli flakes, a pinch of salt, a grind of black pepper, plus the sugar if using.
Cook briefly (no more than a couple of minutes), just until the tomatoes are warm and have started to release their juice.
Stir in the capers and mint then taste and add more salt and/or pepper if needed. Take the pan off the heat.
-
Drain the pasta, add it to the pan and toss everything together.
Transfer to a bowl and serve at once, drizzled with olive oil and topped with extra mint, black pepper, and chilli flakes if liked.
Recipe Notes
Nasturtium Capers. While not related to true capers, the pickled seeds of nasturtiums make a pleasant and economical substitute. My blog post on how to make them is here. As nasturtium seeds are usually larger than capers you may wish to chop them before adding to this dish.
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