Penne Alla Puttane D'Elba

Penne alla puttane d’Elba is the kind of pasta you crave in August when the tomatoes are too ripe to do anything fussy with and the kitchen is already too hot. There’s no cooking the sauce, no reduction, no simmering. Raw vegetables and aromatics macerate together for a half hour while the pasta cooks, then the hot pasta gets tossed straight into the cool bowl. The pasta’s residual heat just barely warms the tomatoes and wilts the basil.

Overripe tomatoes are the move here. Firm grocery-store fruit won’t release enough juice to coat the pasta, but a soft, almost-too-far tomato breaks down into its own sauce when you chop it. Keep the seeds and the juice in the bowl. They’re doing the work.

Paper-thin zucchini, sliced garlic, capers, and tiny black olives round out the briny, herbal mix. A full half cup of olive oil sounds like a lot until you remember it’s the only sauce. The recipe is emphatic that this is not served hot, and they mean it.

Pro Tips

• Slice the zucchini paper thin with a mandoline or sharp knife. Thick slices stay crunchy and raw-tasting in the time the dish has to come together.
• Use a great extra virgin olive oil. With no cooking and no other fat, the oil is doing the heavy work on flavor.
• Don’t rinse the pasta after draining. The starch on the surface helps the sauce cling.
• Tear the basil leaves by hand instead of cutting. Knife edges bruise basil and turn the leaves black.

Variations

• Stir in a quarter cup of toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts for crunch and richness.
• Add a couple of anchovy fillets crushed with the garlic for the original Tuscan-style salty depth.
• Top with shaved ricotta salata or pecorino if you want cheese, though the dish is traditionally served without.