Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta

A message board I frequent put together a cookbook of recipes compiled from members of the website. My copy came last week I think it was, and I just finished reading through it last night. There are a TON of good recipes in there I cannot wait to make. I think the next couple weeks will be all about this cookbook. There are some recipes I had at one point but lost, so I'm excited to have copies of them again--and in a printed book instead of emails I've printed out and tried to keep track of since college.

I was originally going to make a pasta recipe I found in a Cooking Light cookbook, but when flipping through this new book I saw this one and thought it sounded yummy. Plus I had fresh basil left over from when we had caprese paninis last week (they were AWESOME, by the way). I hate wasting fresh herbs, so I thought this would be a good way to use up what was left. The other recipe called for kalamata olives. I like kalamata olives, but my husband--bless his heart--did the grocery shopping for me this week, and I figured he'd never be able to find them since he has trouble finding the cereal aisle. I had him get regular black olives, but I'll just use those for something else.

Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta
1 pound pasta, bow-tie or penne
3 cups ripe tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper
garlic to taste, freshly chopped
Parmesan or Romano cheese, freshly grated

Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, 10-12 minutes. Combine tomatoes, oil, basil, garlic, and salt & pepper to taste in a large bowl. Drain cooked pasta, then add it to the tomato/basil mixture and toss to blend. Sprinkle with cheese to taste.

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Doesn't that sound yummy?! I can't wait to make it this summer (assuming we like it anyway) with fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market. I'm using penne for my pasta, and I didn't freshly chop the garlic. I just don't do that because it takes forever. So I used a few spoonfuls of already chopped garlic.

I'm just waiting on my pasta to finish cooking so I can mix it all together and we can eat. It smells awesome...or maybe that's the Pillsbury garlic breadsticks I baked (thanks, Laura!!). Either way, I'm starving and can't wait for dinner!