Tomato Gratin Spaghetti.
This is a recipe from Edoardo de Filippo, a legendary playwright, actor, director and a very accomplished and passionate cook.
Tomato gratin spaghetti.
Stuffed and baked tomatoes are a Mediterranean coastal specialty, stretching from France down to Greece and beyond. This is a really simple and less fiddly version, really truly exquisite, and then used to dress spaghetti.
Dressing pasta with another, standalone dish, or more often leftovers, is a Southern Italian classic. The most common dish used this way is the Parmigiana. Pasta is primordial here, and most dishes are seen to hold some pasta potential.
Use over-ripe tomatoes, for extra juiciness and sweetness. The anchovies can be omitted of course, but done with high quality anchovies the tomato gratin becomes a very special thing, elevated from a side dish to potentially to even a main event by itself, accompanied with the right bread and wine: the tomatoes become soft and salty, the breadcrumbs lightly crispy on top; an incredibly easy but moreish dish of tomatoes, this is really worth a shot for something slightly different, albeit with the use of the usual (Mediterranean) suspects.
As a side dish serve the tomato gratin with grilled chicken or cold roast.
Or use to dress some pasta.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Medium sized tomatoes, 8
Garlic, 4 cloves, cut into 16 pieces lengthways
Breadcrumbs, 2-3 tablespoons
Capers
Oregano
Olive oil
Anchovies, 8
Spaghetti, 340g
Parsley, a handful
1. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees
2. Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds with your hands, careful of not breaking the membranes
3. Arrange the tomato halves in an oven dish and in each half segment place a teaspoon-tip of oregano, a few capers, and a small teaspoon of olive oil. Lightly sprinkle some salt over the dish and cover with breadcrumbs.
4. Add a sliver of garlic on top of the tomatoes and bake for 25 minutes.
5. In the mean-time set a pot of water to boil.
6. Remove the garlic (or keep it if you like it) and arrange the anchovies on top of the tomatoes.
7. Return to the oven on a grill setting for extra 5 minutes.
8. Cook your spaghetti in salted boiling water.
9. Take the gratin out of the oven and break up the tomatoes into smaller chunks.
10. Drain your spaghetti and coat with the gratin, mixing for a good minute, making sure all of the juices are incorporated.
11. Serve sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley.
