Vacations to Italy require time and money, but it doesn't take airfare or paid time off to indulge in a delicious consolation prize: eating pasta al fresco, preferably with an Aperol spritz in hand. In the summer months, when tomatoes are at their juiciest and most flavorful, one of the best things you can do with a pot of spaghetti is to dress it in a simple sauce that lets the fruit shine in all its seasonal glory.
The next time you're shopping for canned or fresh tomatoes or picking them from your garden with a platter of pasta in mind, consider reaching for the yellow variety for a change. Be it a cherry tomato, a beefsteak, or a beautifully bulbous heirloom, yellow tomatoes are an underrated and highly summery alternative to your standard red. Not only will they bring a refreshing color to the mix, but they'll also provide a unique flavor profile.
We can't imagine life without red tomatoes, but it never hurts to switch things up. Yellow tomato sauce is the perfect low-stakes cooking experiment that, depending on your taste buds, just might take the crown as your top choice for summer pasta recipes. While red tomatoes can be tangy and acidic, yellow tomatoes tend to pack a milder, slightly sweeter punch.
In a video on TikTok, Giada De Laurentiis gives a rundown of her favorite canned and jarred tomatoes, one of which is the yellow pomodorino giallo tomato. "Look how cute they are. They're basically the freshest of all the tomatoes," she says to the camera, adding, "They're like little jewels. These are great in summer with a fresh tomato sauce." Popping one in her mouth, she raises her fist enthusiastically, and declares, wide-eyed, "These are fantastic."
If you can't find yellow tomatoes whole-peeled in a can, you'll want to drop the fresh ones into boiling water for a couple of minutes and plunge them into an ice bath. This will make it easier to peel off their skin, which is an essential step for achieving a smooth sauce. Once your tomatoes are peeled (and if they're larger cherry tomatoes), cut them into your desired shape and scoop out the seeds. After that, you can treat them just like you would a red tomato. Luckily, there are a number of ideas to get the ball rolling.
The easiest way to make a sauce out of yellow tomatoes is to use them in place of red ones in your favorite recipe. Marcella Hazan's cult-favorite tomato sauce, which transforms tomatoes, butter, a halved onion, and salt into something ineffable, would be a perfectly acceptable place to start.
But if you really want to bring out the sweetness of yellow tomatoes, try a recipe that calls for a little sugar. The version from Food Network celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli does just that, adding it to the base of the sauce alongside garlic, chili flakes, and oregano. The basil at the end is optional but highly recommended for an added dose of subtle sweetness.
Over at Giadzy, Giadia De Laurentiis sings the yellow tomato's praises, and notes that making pomodoro sauce with them is quicker than using their rosier counterparts. Her golden pomodoro comes together in half an hour and gets a finishing touch of grated parmesan cheese. However, yellow tomatoes are also higher in sodium, says The New York Times, so be sure to taste as you go and adjust your salt pinches accordingly if you decide to make the switch.
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