Pasta with Tomatoes and Almonds

This is an interesting riff on the typical tomato basil pasta.  I was looking through the October Food and Wine table of contents for an appropriate side dish and realized I had all the ingredients on hand. Plus, it sounded really good.  Really good turns out to be an understatement.  This was a fantastic dish.  I'd serve it as the entree any day.  Or as a side dish.  Whatever.  It's easy.  Tastes like summer.  And, you're pretty likely to have all the ingredients on hand.   

The recipe comes from an article by Grace Parisi.  In the article she provides fast makeovers for traditional Italian-American favorites.  This was actually the third dish we made from the article and all have been very good.  I've posted about the chicken scarpariello (which I think I could eat weekly!!) and will post about the stuffed peppers.  I've made a lot of Ms. Parisi's recipes over the years and have enjoyed the vast majority of them. 

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Spaghettini with Tomatoes, Anchovies and Almonds
serves 6 as an entree, 8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs tomatoes, cored and finely diced
1/4 c finely shredded basil leaves
2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil (I reduced this by about half and was glad I did)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 c toasted sliced almonds, finely chopped
3 large oil packed anchovies, finely minced
1 large garlic clove, sliced
1/2 c grated fresh Romano cheese
2 T capers
1 lb spaghettini

Directions:

Chop the tomato on a cutting board with a trough so you can capture the juice.  Combine the tomato and juice in a large bowl with the basil, scallions, olive oil and crushed pepper.  Toss to combine and allow to stand for 20 minutes.

Saute the garlic in a small amount of the olive oil.

Add the toasted chopped almonds, anchovies, garlic, cheese and capers.  Toss to combine. 

In a large pot of salted water, cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain the pasta and toss it with the tomato mixture. 

Serve with more grated cheese.

adapted from Food and Wine

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This post is part of a series featuring recipes from the FOOD and WINE archive. As a FOOD and WINE Blogger Correspondent, I was chosen to do four recipes a week from FOOD and WINE. I received a subscription to FOOD and WINE for my participation.