tomatoes | the petite beet

One of my favorite coworkers brought me a ton of cherry tomatoes and basil from her garden (thanks Toni!!) so I decided to make one of my favorite go-to pasta dishes – homemade basil tossed with pasta and roasted tomatoes. It is delicious and fail proof!

Ingredients: (serves 1-2)
Bucatini pasta, or pasta of your choice
1/2 cup fresh basil, packed
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
10-15 plum (or cherry) tomatoes

Boil water and cook the pasta per the box instructions. Reserve a little of the pasta water to use.

In a food processor, mix together the basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. You can also add a small handful of nuts to your pesto if you like. I left them out this time. Next, in a pan saute the tomatoes in olive oil until they begin to burst and cook down a little.

After draining the pasta, add the pasta back to the pot and toss with the pesto, adding pasta water as needed to smooth it out. Plate and top with roasted tomatoes and additional Parmesan cheese.

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I had never eaten garlic scapes before (that I know of anyway) and I am totally in love with them now! I got them in my CSA and decided to try a simple pasta dish with them, which came out great. They have the texture of asparagus kind of, but with a light garlicky taste to them. If you haven’t tried garlic scapes yet, I suggest doing it! Their season is short though, so get them while you can!

Ingredients:
Angel hair pasta
2 Italian sausages
2 garlic scapes
Asparagus
Cherry tomatoes
Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop the garlic scapes, asparagus, and tomatoes. Toss in olive oil then roast together in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the asparagus is fork tender and the tomato skin is starting to pop. While that cooks, remove the casing from the sausage and cook in a pan until browned, also cool your pasta. When the vegetables are done roasting, chop the garlic scapes then toss everything together with the pasta. Add some good olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.