How to Dice Tomatoes

When you put tomatoes with pasta or salsa, you don't want too much of the watery parts in the middle of the vegetable (yeah. vegetable). So, this is the easiest way to separate it.

1) Cut the ends. You can cut a smaller portion than I did, but my current knife sucks.



2) Then you want to cut into the tomato and start cutting around the 'core.' It's okay if you're cutting it thick.

3) You just keep going cutting in a circular direction (you can clockwise OR counterclockwise; it really doesn't matter) until you have the seeded and outer parts of the tomato separated. 

4) Lay the outer part flat and cut/ scrape off any of the seeds. I don't care what you do with the center. You can just take a few bites of it and then throw it away or save it for some gazpacho (Not posting a recipe for it. Sorry if you got excited).

5) So after the outer part of the tomato is clean and seedless, just cut and then dice away. Easier than a couple field goals unless you're Steelers Kicker Jeff Reed.

Factoid:


If you're like me, you noticed how Heinz Ketchup bottles point out the fact that their product is full of Lycopene, something found in tomatoes. The average person has no clue what Lycopene is, but the bottle also claims that the aforementioned chemical aids us in preventing cancer. In actuality, the USFDA deemed that Heinz' research was deemed insufficient of evidence for health claim approval. Doesn't mean tomatoes aren't delicious though. Just don't put ketchup on hot dogs if you're in Chicago.

Fusilli with Pesto and Sausage

Level of Difficulty: Noob


Story:
I was at Costco and saw some pesto sauce. I've had some pasta dishes and sandwiches with pesto and it's a great sauce to use in a variety of ways. So, I decided to take it home and work it with some ingredients and see what I could come up with.


What You Need: (2 servings)
A couple pots
2/3 c Pesto Sauce (basil, EVOO, pine nuts, other seasonings. it's good stuff)
1/2 box Fusilli (or any other pasta you want to use)
2 tomatoes, diced
1 Italian sausage
grated parmesan cheese
salt, pepper
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)


What You Do:
1) Put enough water in a pot to have the sausage boil. Put enough water in another pot for the pasta. Salt the pasta water. Sausage the sausage water (put the sausage in).
* While you wait, you can cut up the tomatoes. Use only the outside 'meat' of the tomatoes. I'll show you what I mean in a blog later titled "How to Dice Tomatoes." Set tomatoes aside.


2) a. When the pasta water is boiling, put the pasta in. Reduce to medium heat. If you want, you can put some EVOO in there so it won't stick.
b. Wait. Like 10-12 minutes or whatever the pasta box says. You should take out one piece of pasta and bite it to make sure it's good to go. When the pasta is good to go, drain it and let it sit. 


3) Take out the sausage and slice it into coins. Put a bit of EVOO in the pot the pasta was in and then drop the sausage coins. You want it to brown just a bit. If you don't want to use more oil, you can just fry em on a nonstick pan.
* It's kinda oily and the Pesto already has EVOO, so here's a good way to get some of that outta there. Turn off heat, grab a couple paper towels, and put the paper towels in the pot and dab the bottom of the pot and sausages until it's relatively dry.


4) Return the pasta to the pot. Mix in the pesto sauce. Use a lot. Get a pinch of salt and a few pinches of pepper in there. Turn heat to low and mix for a minute or two. Turn heat off and mix in tomatoes. You don't want them to be TOO soft.


5) Throw the food on the plate, get some nice pieces of grated parmesan on top. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and you're good to go.
* You can put in some garlic or even onions, too. You probably wanna get them in there at the same time the sausage coins go in. You can put some fresh basil on the side as garnish if you want to be all artistic in plating.

Factoid:
Fusilli - I like using fusilli, which means "little spindles", because it's thicker than rotini and has a better texture to it.