My First Dish: Tomato-Basil Pasta Salad

Welcome back, dear readers. Good tidings to you all. A fine spring day here in Ottawa, the snow is melting, the sub-zero temperatures are gradually warming up. And the hearts of restaurateurs are warming as well, due to the decision to allow 50% dining room capacity to eat in, rather than a blanket 10 people at a time. This, coupled with an earlier patio season, is going to be a great boon to all my friends who own and work in restaurants. Don’t forget to support your favourite local restaurant, either by dining in or ordering take-out. We’re not out of the water yet.

Anyways, all this good feeling had me reminiscing about days gone by and I remembered, way back to my high school days, the Home Economics class I took as a lark that ignited my love of cooking. I was taking the class for an easy pass, but I remember one day we were handed the recipe for this pasta salad. I’d had pasta salads before, of course. The not-great kinds, I discussed them in my deli-style pasta salad post. But this was something different.

As I’ve said before, I didn’t have much of a relationship with food as a kid. My parents cooking was… alright, we didn’t frequent any real-type restaurants, and I just never really gave food much thought. But this dish, so simple to prepare, but so full of flavours! I was astounded. “I made this,” I thought to myself, “and it tasted like that. If I can make this taste good, maybe I can make EVERYTHING taste good!” I was hooked in an instant, held aloft by the high of good olive oil, late-season tomatoes and fresh basil. I needed to know more, to cook more. More than anything, I needed to understand.

Even though I had the recipe, my first attempts to recreate the dish at home were markedly unsuccessful. Why did our olive oil taste different? How come dried basil doesn’t work like the fresh stuff, it’s the same, isn’t it? Why does our Parmesan cheese not taste the same? Is it because of the green cardboard tube? I was learning about the quality of ingredients without even knowing it.

I haven’t made or even thought of this dish in years. But I made it last night, and it was every bit as lovely as I remember. Of course, my memories of it are decidedly rose-tinted. It is, after all, just a simple pasta salad with a VERY familiar complimentary flavour profile. However, to me it represents the beginning of a journey, one of the most important of my life because it shaped all those to follow.

So, let’s get into the Way-Back Machine, you and I, and revisit the dish that started it all: Tomato-Basil Pasta Salad.

Tomato-Basil Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 454g (1lb.) penne (you can use any other short shape, but this is a classic for me)
• 1 small shallot, peeled and super-finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 5-6 Roma tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 200g (1/2 pt) cherry tomatoes, halved
• 6-7 sprigs basil, leaves only
• High quality extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 142g (5 oz.) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (at least, I probably used WAY more)

Method:

1. If you don’t know how to peel a Roma tomato, just cut a shallow ‘X’ into the top (opposite the stem end) of each one, then drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Fish them out and drop them into very cold or ice water, until cooled through. The skins should slip right off. Roughly chop the tomatoes as instructed.
2. Cook the penne for the full recommended time in large pot of heavily salted, boiling water over high heat. Drain into a colander when done and let cool to room temperature. Agitate with a spoon or spatula every now and again to discourage sticking. It WILL stick, but the olive oil will help remedy that.
3. As the pasta cools, in a large bowl mix together the shallot, garlic, Roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Allow the flavours to marry.
4. Once the pasta is cool, drizzle a ring of olive oil around the sides of the bowl. Add the pasta in stages, mixing gently, but well, adding more olive oil as needed. Once all the pasta is added and evenly coated, add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Using a very sharp knife or sharp scissors, stack the basil leaves 4-5 leaves high and roll into a cigar shape. Cut into thin shreds and fold the basil into the pasta salad gently, so as not to bruise the herbs.
6. Fold in the grated cheese, making sure to evenly incorporate it. Taste one last time for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, oil or cheese as needed.

Well, there it is. The first dish I ever cooked. Now granted, this is a summertime dish, absolutely MADE for when the basil and tomatoes are at their peak. But it goes beyond that for me. It’s the nostalgia of it. Of still being able to taste exactly what made me excited about it in the first place. Such a simple dish, so few ingredients. There’s no place for flavour to hide here. I hope it pleases you as much as it did teenage (and current) me.

What was the first dish YOU ever cooked, readers? Do you remember? Does it hold up today as well as it does in your memories? Shoot me an email or leave a comment down below! I want to know about your first dishes! Ciao for now!