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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes


This dish is so fast and easy that I had everything ready before the water boiled and the pasta cooked. It features cherry tomatoes and is the essence of summer. If you use cherry tomatoes from your garden, it costs less than $1 per person. Add a salad and you've got a tasty weeknight meal.

Here's what you do
Put water on to boil for your pasta. Small compact shapes are nice with this, but anything will do. I used half a pound for two of us and we had about 1/3 of it left over. We also didn't have salad or bread, so we ate more pasta than we otherwise would have. The recipe says 1/2 pound feeds 4 people.
In a large bowl combine the following:
  • 3 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 T. capers, rinsed
  • 1/3 cup pitted olives (the recipe called for Nicoise, but I used kalamata)
  • 6 basil leaves, slivered or torn (I used lemon basil which has much smaller leaves, so I just grabbed a small handful)
  • 3 T. of your best olive oil
  • salt & pepper to taste
When the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain it and add it to the bowl. Stir quickly to coat with the olive oil. Breathe deeply because this smells FABULOUS. You can add a few drops of balsamic vinegar if you like. I forgot to do this and it was wonderful without it (and you KNOW how much I love vinegar.) Serve immediately.

For some of you, it may be strange to have pasta with no cheese. If you're tempted to add cheese, at least try several bites without it. The flavors of the tomatoes and olives really get to shine if you keep this dish simple.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time
I'd like to try this dish with Smoked Olive Oil next time. If you haven't tried smoked olive oil, you should look it up at www.thesmokedolive.com. It is pricey, but worth every penny. You can find it at the Santa Rosa farmers market (Sonoma County) where you can try before you buy.

Cost to Prepare
Pasta - $.75
Cherry tomatoes - from the garden
Shallot -
Garlic - $.05
Olive oil - $.40
Basil - from the garden
Capers - $.50
Olives - $.75
S&P - negligible
TOTAL COST - $2.45 (serves 3-4 people)

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