I’m relishing tomato season, and dreaming up so many new tomato recipes for the blog. My friend Gabe has been giving us so many cherry tomatoes from her garden. I’ve never made fresh tomato sauce before, but when tomatoes are sweet and in season, it just makes sense to leave them uncooked in sauce. My pasta with fresh tomato sauce is made up of both blended cherry tomatoes and halved cherry tomatoes, plus lots of fresh basil. Then it’s all topped with delicious burrata. It’s such a fresh summer dinner.
Lately, we’ve been eating lots of vegetables from friends’ gardens and the grocery. I’m realizing how much I wish I had signed up for a CSA at this point! It’s such a fun challenge to use up whatever you have around. We’ve been eating some gifted zucchini that was so large, it took four recipes to use just one zucchini. It became zucchini rice, zucchini tacos, zucchini pasta, and then sauteed with soy sauce and served over rice. I can’t wait to share more produce-driven recipes in the coming months. See the full recipe below.
- 1 lb linguine or other long pasta
- 2 lb cherry or grape tomatoes
- kosher salt
- 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
- ¼ cup grated parmigiano reggiano
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 8 oz fresh burrata for topping
- Bring 4 qts of water and 2 tbsp kosher salt to a boil.
- Meanwhile, add half your grape tomatoes, a couple pinches of salt, and 2 tbsp of the oil to a blender. Blend until smooth. Cut the remaining grape tomatoes in half. Chop the basil into thin strips.
- Once the water is boiling, add your pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Once done, drain into a colander. While the pasta cooks, heat a large dutch oven or large skillet to medium heat. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, cooking for one minute. Add the pureed tomatoes and lower the heat to low, cooking gently just until the pasta is done.
- Add the drained pasta into the sauce pan, tossing with tongs to coat. Add a few splashes of pasta water to help the pasta sauce adhere to the noodles. Add the grated parmigiano reggiano and continue to toss. Taste for salt, adding more if needed. Add in the halved tomatoes and basil, giving it one last toss. Top each bowl with burrata. Serve immediately.
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