Home Cooking: Ina Garten’s Summer Garden Pasta

It takes only two words to describe this pasta dish: easy and delicious.

This seriously had to be easiest dish I’ve fixed in ages, with the fewest amounts of ingredients. If we had a summer garden here that was producing cherry tomatoes and basil, this would be on the menu every week.

The actual dish takes less than 15 minutes to put together. The the only thing that needs to be done ahead of time is marinating the tomatoes for four hours, with the most most labor intensive part of the preparation cutting the tomatoes in half. I used only two pints of tomatoes and wished we had more. And, don’t leave out the red pepper flakes! They add a lovely zing to the dish without adding too much heat.

Seriously though, only three steps are required in this recipe to create a wonderful pasta meal:

1. Cut & marinate tomatoes in olive oil with garlic and basil

2. Cook & add pasta

3. Add lots of cheese and serve

That’s it!

INA GARTEN’S SUMMER GARDEN PASTA

• 4 pints cherry tomatoes (around 75 to 100 cherry tomatoes!)

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 2 TBSP minced garlic

• 18 large basil leaves, julienned

• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

• 3/4 – 1 tsp salt

• 1 pound angel hair pasta

• 1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese (plus more for serving)

Cut the tomatoes in half and place in a large serving bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic (yes, really two tablespoons!), julienned basil leaves, red pepper flakes, pepper, and salt to your preference. Mix well, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let sit out at room temperature for four hours.

To assemble the dish, cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain well and add to the tomatoes and combine. Add the parmesan cheese and blend.

Serve with extra Parmesan cheese and more julienned basil.