Warm Fusilli with Tomatoes & Watercress

This summery pasta plays opposites off each other - cool sauce and warm pasta, sweet tomatoes and snappy lemon, hot chile and cool mint. The sauce is delicious when served at room temperature (it can stand for an hour), so resist the urge to refrigerate it.

Directions

1. In a large serving bowl, combine the frying pepper, red onion, jalapeño, garlic, lemon juice and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and let stand for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, olives, mint, basil and oil.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt, then add the fusilli and cook until al dente; drain. Add the fusilli to the sauce along with the Asiago and watercress. Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve.

Wine Recommendation: The tomato sauce gives this pasta dish a tartness best complemented by a bright, zesty red: Sangiovese. Try a California bottling (the 1996 Forest Glen) or a Chianti Classico (the 1993 Castello di Gabbiano Riserva Oro).

Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Food & Wine Magazine
Copyright © American Express Publishing Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Photo image © Luca Trovato

THE PERFECT ACCOMPANIMENT TO THIS RECIPE

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