Kimberley Hefner's Chilled Tomato Salsa with Angel Hair Pasta

This is the Italian no-cook tomato sauce trick: chop ripe tomatoes, peppers, white onion, and basil, drown it all in good olive oil, and let raw vegetables become a sauce while pasta water comes to a boil. The hot angel hair does the work of warming the salsa just enough to release the basil and garlic without cooking the freshness out of the tomatoes.

Roma tomatoes are the right call here. They have less water than slicing tomatoes, so the sauce stays clinging to the pasta instead of pooling on the plate. Sweet red and yellow peppers add crunch and a low hum of sweetness that balances the bite of raw white onion and garlic.

Serving the red pepper flakes and romano on the side instead of mixed in lets each diner adjust heat and salt to taste, the way a good trattoria would.

Pro Tips

• Salt the tomatoes 10 minutes before you toss everything together. They’ll release juice that becomes part of the sauce instead of leaching out under the pasta.
• Cook the pasta truly al dente, even slightly underdone. Residual heat keeps cooking the noodles after they hit the salsa.
• Use the best extra virgin olive oil you have. With this few ingredients, the oil is half the flavor.
• Tear the basil leaves at the last second, not chop. Knife bruising blackens basil edges fast.

Variations

• Add a handful of pitted Kalamata olives and a pinch of capers for a puttanesca lean.
• Swap angel hair for orzo and serve cold as a pasta salad.
• Toss in cubed fresh mozzarella or burrata torn over the top right before serving.