I love a meal that I don’t have to think too much about. That I really don’t even need to plan too much ahead. A meal that comes together quickly and easily with little effort but tastes like I just walked into my favorite restaurant. Well, here you go…
This recipe is all of the above and did I mention delicious? It is so delicious. I adapted this from Ina Garten’s Summer Garden pasta recipe. I love Ina Garten. I have loved her and her recipes for years. Yet, the thing about Ina is that almost all of her recipes are either time consuming or take a lot of ingredients and/or steps. This recipe does not take make ingredients, but it takes a good amount of time. Granted, it is not difficult or time-consuming steps. It is just that the tomatoes in that recipe need to marinate with the garlic and the crushed red pepper flakes for 4 hours. The reason is that it is a no cook sauce. So, you need to develop the flavor somehow. You can either develop the flavors with time or with heat.
I am not sure about you mama’s, but I do not always have my Sh*t together 4 hours before dinner. Some days, sure, but most days… nope! So, I decided to take the same idea and the same flavors and create a very simple pan sauteed version of her recipe.
Pasta can be your best friend for a simple and delicious weeknight meal!
I love pasta dishes for quick and easy weeknight meals. You can come up with a million different flavor profiles, a million different sauces, a million different combinations using different shapes and ingredients to make a whole new dish. Not to mention that most kids will eat pasta too, so boom… one meal for the whole family.
This pasta dish is particularly quick because you can literally make the whole dish in the time it takes to cook your pasta. Wow, that is dinner in like less than 10 minutes! Not only dinner, but an amazingly delicious, restaurant-quality dinner that the whole family will love. Pair it with a salad and some crusty bread and you have the entire meal done!
What do I need to make this pasta?
Pasta- Of course you need pasta to make a pasta dish. LOL! For this dish I like spaghetti pasta. It cooks quickly, but will hold up nicely to your chunky sauce
Grape Tomatoes-Â I like to use heirloom grape tomatoes here, but you can use whatever you like. If you grow your own, use those. They will be the best!
Garlic- We are using a good amount of garlic here. We are using 3-4 cloves here. We want this nice and garlicky
Basil-Â Fresh basil here, not dried. Again, if you grow your own, use that.
Crushed Red Pepper Flake- This gives a little punch. If you are making it for the kiddos too you can add after you remove theirs if it is too hot for them
Good quality olive oil- Even though we are cooking this, we are not cooking it for very long. We are also adding some non-cooked olive oil to the finished pasta too. So, make sure you have a good quality of olive oil that can be consumed raw
Parmesan Cheese-Â I love freshly grated parmesan cheese here, but you can certainly use an already grated variety. Just make sure it is a good quality one
Kosher salt-Â IKYK… only kosher salt in my kitchen. You will use this for the pasta water as well as to season the sauce
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper-Â The fresh ground makes a big difference in a dish like this. I also like to use it for garnish and final flavoring
Check out my favorite olive oil
Get my favorite olive oil here
Chef’s Tips-
This dish is very simple. The biggest thing I can tell you here to use the best quality ingredients. Whenever you are not cooking ingredients or quickly cooking the ingredients, the flavor of the actual ingredients shine through. So, because we are quickly cooking these ingredients, you want to use the best you can get. If you grow your own, that is the best. If not, that is ok… I do NOT have a green thumb at all! That is ok. Just make sure you find a great produce store or farmers market that you can get amazing produce at for cooking with.
Secondly, do not over cook your pasta. Spaghetti cooks quickly, so just cook it al dente and then it will finish cooking in the pot with the sauce. Reserve a little pasta water just in case it needs liquid and you are all set. ENJOY!
Summer Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes halved, I use heirloom when I can get them
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- Good quality olive oil
- 1 small bunch fresh basil about 10-12 leaves, plus more for garnish
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Cracked black pepper
- 1 lb spaghetti pasta cooked to al dente
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving
Instructions
- In a medium to large pot of water add enough water to heavily salt the water. Let the water come to the boil and cook the pasta to al dente.
- Meanwhile, heat a medium sized skillet on medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom of the pan. Add in the tomatoes and allow them to heat up, they may start to blister. Add in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Add in the crushed red pepper flakes and season with kosher salt and pepper to taste.
- Lower the heat on the sauté pan and add in the al dente pasta with a pasta claw straight out of the water. Add in all of the pasta and toss it together with the pan sauce. Add a little more olive oil to nicely coat and add a little bit of pasta water, just 1 tablespoon at a time as needed. This will just help make a little sauce, this should not be soupy.
- Toss in the grated parmesan and fresh basil and toss all of the ingredients together. Garnish with some extra cheese, parmesan, olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper and ENJOY!
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