Swoon Time

When was the last time you swooned over a homemade meal? I mean actually enjoyed and experienced all the fresh ingredients down to the last morsel of garlic?  For me it was last night.

Here's what happened. The squash, peppers and eggplant were done for the season - either eaten, shared or processed for winter use. What's left? Tomatoes, basil and garlic - a delicious trio to make pasta pomodoro, that's Italian for tomato. This dish is made for end of the season tomatoes when they are at their peak of sugary ripeness.  

I didn't grow 'San Marzano' tomatoes this year, they would be a good choice for this dish (less juicy). But the hybrid 'early doll' and sweeter than sweet 'sun gold' tomatoes were perfectly ripe and tasted great together.  The container basil was still growing strong and the garlic...oh...there is lots of garlic in the Cahill house this season!!  It was harvested over the 4th of July and tastes so smooth with a mild, pleasing bite...and fresher than fresh.

This recipe takes about thirty minutes to prepare (any dinner that can be made in under an hour gets extra points in my book). All you need to do is boil the pasta of your choice (we used quinoa spaghetti noodles) and be sure to time it correctly to add to the sauce. The noodles can be al dente because they'll cook a bit when added to the sauce. Thinly slice your garlic, next peel (not the cherry tomatoes) and chop your tomatoes.  Follow the rest of the recipe below from PBS Food.

This recipe is easy to tweak, add more ingredients like toasted pine nuts, kalamata olives, parmesan cheese, prosciutto or sliced chicken.  Keep in mind however, the more you add, the less the simple ingredients will be tasted. 

Gorgeous and Delish!

Ingredients

• 12-16 ounces pasta, boiled according to package directions
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 medium cloves of garlic smashed and roughly chopped
• 4 large vine ripened tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• basil leaves, julienned 

 

Directions

1. The sauce should take about 5 minutes to cook, so time your pasta accordingly. Use the boiling water for the pasta to parboil the tomatoes for about 30 seconds to make them easy to peel.
2. Add the oil and garlic to a large frying pan and heat over high heat. Fry until the garlic is fragrant, but don’t let it brown. Add the tomatoes and sauté until the liquid left in the pan isn’t watery anymore. Add salt to taste.
3. When the pasta is done, drain and add it to the frying pan along with the basil. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

ENJOY!!