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)

Lentils and Shells with Cilantro-Scented Onions and Spinach

This was a really unexpected and unusual direction to take lentils and pasta. It runs a little more along the mexican flavor spectrum than the italian, featuring lime, cumin, cilantro, and mint. It's easy and delicious. You don't need anything else with it except a nice spicy wine and maybe some bread. I used the french green lentils with this and it really had a lovely color and visual appeal. Plain brown lentils would be a little too drab.

Here's what you do:

Rinse 1 cup green lentils, and simmer them in 6 cups water, along with 1 bay leaf, 1 celery rib, and 2 thyme sprigs. (You'll want to remove the aromatics later, so you can tie them together if you want.) Let them cook until very soft but not mushy, about 35 minutes.

While they're cooking, start water boiling for the pasta. Wash and trim 1 bunch spinach. Slice 2 large onions. Chop 1 cup cilantro and 3 T. mint. Heat 2 T. olive oil or butter (or a mixture). Add the onions and cook until golden, about 20 minutes. Stir in cilantro, mint, 1/2 t. ground cumin (or more). Turn off heat and squeeze the limes over the onions. Season well with salt and pepper.

When the pasta water boils, add salt and 1/2 pound small pasta shells or other short type pasta. Cook until al dente. When finished, scoop them out of the water and put them directly into the lentils. (Remove the aromatics first.) Add the spinach to the boiling pasta water and cook until wilted. Scoop it out and add it to the lentils and shells.

Toss the lentils, shells, and spinach with half the onions and a little extra olive oil. Taste for salt and season with pepper. Spoon the remaining onions over the top. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a little extra cilantro.

Things I'd do differently next time: Deborah's recipe called for spinach crowns, which are the rosy base of the plant including a few inches of the stems. They're usually thrown out, but she says they're delicious and very pretty. I left them out because I couldn't find any. In fact, I couldn't even find heads of spinach and I used baby spinach instead. Any kind of spinach is fine, I think. You could even use other kinds of tender braising greens if you wanted. I have lots coming in from the farm right now, so I might try it with other greens.

Approximate cost to prepare:

1 cup french green lentils - $1.00

1 bunch spinach - $1.25

2 large onions - $.50

1 cup cilantro - $.50

1 lime - $.25

1/2 pound pasta shells - $1.00

mint, cumin, olive oil, aromatics - negligible

TOTAL for 4 people - $4.00

A nice spicy but fruity red wine would go great with this. Try a Santa Barbara Syrah.