Spaghettoni all'Assassina with Fresh Tomato Broth and Stracciatella
A restaurant-style assassina built on a strained fresh cherry-tomato broth and caramelised tomato paste, finished with cold stracciatella and torn basil.
Method
Make a fresh tomato broth. Halve the cherry tomatoes, blend them with the water and salt until smooth and pour into a 1.5 L pot. Simmer over medium heat for , skimming off the foam that rises.
Add in this stepRipe cherry tomatoes 350 gWater (for the broth) 600 mlSalt 1 tsp
medium heatPour through a fine sieve, pressing hard with a spatula to get every drop of juice; discard the skins and seeds. Return the clear, fragrant broth to the pot and keep it hot over low heat.
low heatHeat a cast-iron or carbon-steel pan (28 cm) over medium heat. Add most of the olive oil, the sliced garlic and the halved chillies and cook for until the garlic is pale golden. Add the tomato paste and fry it, stirring constantly, for until it darkens to brick red and smells caramelised. This step builds the deeper flavour of the advanced version.
Add in this stepExtra-virgin olive oil 2¾ tbspGarlic cloves, thinly sliced 2Dried red chillies 1Tomato paste 1½ tbsp
medium heatPour in the passata (it will spatter) and let it bubble over medium-high heat for , stirring, until thick.
Add in this stepTomato passata 150 g
medium-high heatLay the dry spaghettoni, unbroken, in a single layer on the sauce. Turn up to high heat and sear without touching for , until the bottom sizzles and starts to catch, then turn them with tongs.
Add in this stepDried spaghettoni (extra-thick spaghetti) 200 g
high heatAdd the hot tomato broth one ladle at a time, waiting until each is almost gone before adding the next, and turn the pasta every two ladles so it chars evenly. Thick pasta takes a little longer: about in total over medium-high heat. Stop adding broth when a bitten strand shows only a thin, firm core.
medium-high heatLet the pan go almost dry, then leave the pasta untouched over high heat for to form black, crunchy patches; flip and give it the same time again. Plate, add a generous spoonful of cold stracciatella straight from the fridge alongside, tear over the basil and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Serve at once.
Add in this stepStracciatella (or the inside of a burrata) 80 gFresh basil leaves 8Extra-virgin olive oil ¾ tbsp
high heat
Cook's tip
When cherry tomatoes are out of season, use the same weight of canned whole tomatoes. The contrast between hot, crunchy pasta and cold, creamy cheese is the whole idea, so add the stracciatella at the last second. Torn burrata works if you can't find stracciatella.
Cooking it at camp
Make and strain the broth at home and bring it in a bottle; the campsite work is then the same as the basic version. Keep the stracciatella well chilled in the cooler and add it at the end.