TOMATO TOMAATO

Easter has just passed so that means mixing up all leftover goodies from the breakfast table. Some of my definite favourites are a soft boiled egg, spianata romana, Castello blue and gambozola cheese. Probably not everyone's favourites but I really enjoy them. The last three also with a good red wine in the evening. Today I want to share with you a recipe  I found coincidently by finishing up those left overs. It concerns the spianata romana and the Castello blue cheese. Spianata romana is a peppery salty salami from Rome surroundings. As you might have noticed the name doesn't keep that a secret. I found it interesting to learn it is also flavoured with garlic crushed in wine. Castello Blue is a bit more commercialized as the name says blue cheese. I find it is one of the softer and creamy versions of blue cheeses. I have known it from being a little girl,where it lied positioned in the fridge door of my parents. Yet I have only liked blue cheese for the past half a year or so. Before that, I made well sure it never touched my food. I have always found it to be a curious thing that persons taste can change drastic over a few years.

So for the recipe, I think a photo says more than the description.

 What you'll need:

- Pasta ( I prefer linguine)
- Basic tomato souce
- Three or four tomato's
- Thinly sliced fianata romana
- Castello blue
- One onion (preferably a red one)
- Two garlic cloves
- Olive oil

What to do:
1. Boil some water and make your pasta according to the package.  Add salt to the water to add taste.
2. Start with slicing the onions and squashing or roughly chopping the garlic. 
3. Add some olive oil to a frying pan and start by adding the onion slices. After a minute or so you can add the garlic.
4. In the meanwhile you dice the tomatoes. If you dislike having the skins in your sauce you can also go for pre skinned tomatoes. Or, boil them shortly in water to pull of the skins easily. For me I dont care for the hassle and also the skin carries the most of the vitamins.
5. Once your onions and garlic have a nice browned colour you add the diced tomatoes. This is also the moment to add more greens if you prefer. For instance you could add aubergine or paprika. Let this simmer for a while before you add the tomato sauce.
6. Add the tomato sauce and let it heat for a while so the sauce can thicken.
7. Prepare a clean plate with kitchen paper. Take a small frying pan to crisp the fianata romana. Heat the pan without adding oil and bake the thin slices of fianata romana until they start to have a white shimmer and browned edges. When they look right carefully place them on the kitchen paper so this can distract most of the fat.
8. Serve your pasta on a plate and season it with salt and pepper. Poor a good amount of sauce over the pasta. For now the fun bit. Take good chunks of the cheese and add them on top of the sauce. For the last bit take the crunchy pieces of  salami and spread them over your dish.  As a garnish you could add some basil. This makes the colours pop and goes well with the recipe.

Hope you try this sometime,