This dish is a regular in our house since my father-in-law made it for my husband and me a few years ago. It’s based on a recipe from the Silver Spoon Pasta cookbook, if you haven’t heard of the Silver Spoon cookbook this review of their pasta book is worth a read. For this recipe I’ve increased the amount of tomatoes and pasta, because the tomatoes are my favourite part and we tend to eat larger portions of pasta than the original recipe calls for. We also added the Parmesan and Pecorino.

Here is the tomato mixture ready to be covered and left to sit for 20 minutes.  This helps intensify the flavour in the tomatoes as well as infusing them with garlic.

I usually serve this pasta dish with meat balls, but it is great on its own too!

Since this recipe is so quick I’m entering it into the joint  blog event themed Fasta Pasta which is hosted by Sarah at Maison Cupcake this month and is the combination of the Pasta Please event by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes as well as the Speedy Suppers event by Sarah at Maison Cupcake and Katie from Feeding Boys.

I’m also entering this recipe into Elizabeth’s Shop Local event and Ren’s Simple and in Season blog event as the tomatoes came in my veg box are from Yorkshire and it’s the beginning of the tomato season in the UK. This dish is best done in the summer months when the tomatoes are in season and at their most flavoursome.  I’ve tried it in the winter months and it just doesn’t compare!

Written by Corin

Fresh Tomato Pasta

Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes (plus 20 minute wait time)
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients

• 600g Plum, cherry or any smaller tomatoes
•  1-1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
•  Freshly ground pepper
•  2 cloves garlic, peeled and squashed using the side of a knife
•  10 basil leaves
•  4 tablespoons olive oil
•  400g linguine or choice of pasta
•  80g of Parmesan or suitable vegetarian substitute, grated (Reserve 10g for serving)**
•  70g of Pecorino, grated**

Equipment

• Copper Base 20cm Saucepan
• Knife
• Chopping board
• Wooden spoon
• Sieve
• Tongs
• Medium sized bowl

Cooking Method

1.  Slice the tomatoes into quarters by slicing from where the stem attaches to the bottom. Place in a bowl with garlic and basil, and stir in the sea salt, ground pepper and olive oil. Cover with a plate and leave to sit for 20-25 minutes, stirring once throughout the process.
2. Cook the linguine in the sauce pan to desired tenderness. Strain the pasta through a sieve and return the pasta to the sauce pan, however the sauce pan does not need to be returned to heat.
3. Add the cheese to the sauce pan and stir well until melted. Remove the garlic pieces from the tomato mixture then add the tomatoes to the pasta and stir well.  Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan and enjoy.

*Make it vegetarian – find suitable vegetarian alternative cheese to grate into and over the pasta. Serve without meatballs.

**Make it vegan – omit all cheese and add 5-10 grams nutritional yeast. Serve without meatballs.