Orzo/Fresh Tomato Sauce

This is high summer in a bowl: small rice-shaped orzo pasta tossed with a barely-cooked fresh tomato sauce, garlic warmed in olive oil, and a handful of torn basil. The whole thing comes together in 20 minutes and depends entirely on the quality of your tomatoes.

Use ripe in-season tomatoes, the kind that smell like a tomato when you hold them to your nose. Pale supermarket tomatoes will give you a watery, joyless sauce. If good tomatoes aren’t available, switch to canned San Marzano. Better to use proper tinned than mediocre fresh.

The garlic warming step is doing crucial work. Cook it gently in the oil until it just whispers fragrance, not a second longer. Brown garlic turns bitter and ruins the sauce. The point is to perfume the oil, then build the tomato sauce around it.

Don’t overcook the orzo. Ten minutes max for the proper al dente bite. Mushy orzo collapses against the soft sauce and loses textural contrast. Drain it just before the sauce is ready so it doesn’t sit and clump.

Kitchen Tips

• Peel the tomatoes by scoring an X on the bottom, blanching for 30 seconds in boiling water, then plunging into ice water. Skins slip right off.
• Cook the sauce just until tomatoes break down and release juice, around three minutes. Long simmering loses the fresh, raw brightness.
• Reserve a half cup of pasta water before draining the orzo. A splash brings the sauce together if it looks dry.
• Finish with a drizzle of good extra-virgin olive oil at the table.

Variations

• Stir in fresh mozzarella pearls and a handful of arugula for an instant pasta salad.
• Add a can of drained white beans for protein and heartier body.
• Top with grated Parmesan and toasted pine nuts for crunch and salt.