Pasta with red and gold cherry tomatoes
The variety of tomatoes available at local farmers' markets has grown exponentially as the number of sunny days accumulates. Because of the rainy spring, some tomatoes have been renamed "Not So Early Girls."
Pick up a mixture of red “Sweet 100” and golden “Sungold” cherry tomatoes for this recipe, a wonderful, simple pasta recipe. Greg Rumore, MD, one of our expert pathologists, wondered if I had forgotten to publish the method of cooking the corn for tomato, arugula, and blue cheese salad. The young and tender sweet corn doesn't need to be cooked, just cut from the cob.
He served it uncooked with a pan-roasted pork tenderloin to his family's rave reviews.
While I often cook new dishes to find recipes to share, I return to old favorites. I love the simplicity and rich taste of this dish and hope you do too.
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 large shallots, minced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Scant 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 pound dried pasta (pick a shape with concavities to hold the sauce better)
Directions
- In a large sauté pan, combine tomatoes, shallots, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a simmer and cook until the tomatoes release some of their juices, but haven't yet totally collapsed. This will take only about 5 minutes.
- Cut the basil leaves into thin ribbons and mix them into the sauce.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and return it to the pot.
- Mix in the sauce.
- Season to taste and serve in warm bowls.