Sunday, July 24, 2011

Angel Hair Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes

One of my favorite recipes!

Found this recipe in a New York Times Magazine article (“Kitchen Voyeur”, Jonathan Reynolds, 9-5-05), and then in Barefoot Contessa at Home (Ina Garten, 2006) as “Summer Garden Pasta.”

This is best prepared in summer when local, organic tomatoes and basil are fresh and abundant. During the summer I make it once a week – no kidding! Because the tomatoes marinate for at least four hours, you can prepare it well ahead of time. It’s perfect for a mid-week family dinner, or dress it up with a salad and light dessert and you have a dinner party menu.


I use less garlic than both recipes mentioned above. In summer, when I can purchase an enormous, fragrant bunch of basil from a local farm stand, I use more basil and garnish with a big, beautiful sprig of it. The original recipes add cheese to the dish right before serving. I prefer to pass a bowl of freshly grated Parmesan cheese at the table.

For this recipe it helps to have the best quality ingredients. As a special treat, I like to have on hand a really good olive oil and a favorite sea salt for this dish. For fun, click here for a fantastic foodie resource for olive oils, sea salts and many other wonderful items.

Serves 6-8

4 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)
A handful +/- of julienned basil leaves (reserve some for serving)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/4 lbs angel hair pasta
1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the table

Combine the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for about 4 hours.

Before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions being careful not to overcook it.

Drain but do not rinse the pasta, add it to the bowl with cherry tomatoes and toss.

Garnish each bowl of pasta with some of the reserved basil and serve immediately.

Pass a bowl of freshly grated Parmesan cheese at the table.

44 comments:

  1. red pepper flakes are always a must when I make a fresh tomato sauce like this:) Perfect for summer--minimal cooking. Yay! You are very smart:)

    You know what else is yum in something like this? Fresh lemon juice! Makes the tomatoes SING! =D

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of my favorite treats! I grow tomatoes and basil for this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I tried to grow basil last summer, but apparently you need to at least water it once during the summer! Love this pasta....gorgeous ingredients really make gorgeous meals :) Happy Summer sweetie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    2. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    3. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    4. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    5. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    6. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    7. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    8. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    9. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
    10. Oh, so that's what happened to my basil. I find sage is much less labor-intensive. I planted one sage plant about 5 years ago and it comes back every spring and mother nature takes care of the watering :)

      Delete
  4. Thank you, friends, and I didn't have Angel Hair on hand, so I used Spaghetti Rigati - either/or! A favorite summer meal.
    Jenni, I use lemon to finish so many of my dishes - why the heck haven't I used it on this one?? Thanks for the suggestion!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. A great summer dish! I make something very similiar at least once a week as well :) I grew tons of basil (4 kinds) this year so I put lots in my dishes. My new fave ingredient for these dishes is Lemon Thyme. Tiny little leaves, but oh so fragrant and really make the flavors pop like Jenni suggested with the lemon juice. Smokin Hot loves it too (but she likes me to sautee a few shrimp and toss them in as well) :-) Now I'm hungry!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Basil! My first love. Your pasta looks great. Simple and packed with flavors.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Michelle, great recipe just in time for cherry tomatoes to be in season! Love that the recipe is simple and it looks yummy!

    Happy Cooking!

    ReplyDelete
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    xoxo

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  9. Dearest Bloomington Girl,
    Thank you for the lovely compliment.
    I need to be checking my blog comments
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  10. I was looking for a recipe mixing pasta and cherry tomatoes, and here it is. I can't wait dinner tonight:-)

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