On Saturday morning we went for a long walk with Opie through Capitol View Park. It’s a lovely place, with tall, tall trees that shade it almost entirely, making it a cool, comfortable place to spend some time outdoors, even on blistering summer days. There’s a playground where Jay can run around and burn up some of that bubbling energy, and lots of cool, green grass where Opie can spread himself out with a tasty twig to chew.
Understandably, we end up spending too much time there and by the time we come home it’s usually at or past lunchtime. This time it was later than usual, and everyone had worked up quite an appetite. Let’s order pizza, said Desi, a suggestion enthusiastically endorsed by Jay. Me, the spoilsport, would have none of it. Because I had a recipe up my sleeve, found just that morning while flicking through Bon Appetit, that I knew I could put together in minutes. A recipe for a no-cook tomato sauce that I could easily adapt and I knew everyone would love — I daresay almost as much as pizza.
I put Jay to work, picking cherry tomatoes, green peppers, and some basil — a job he loves to do. When food comes from your own backyard it just tastes that much better. When your son helps you cook it up, it’s just that much more fun.
So we chopped up a big, red tomato, toasted some almonds, chopped up some basil and green peppers, and mixed up the delicious sauce in the food processor. Jay kept licking it and I had to hide it from him so we would have some left for the pasta. I halved what seemed like a million cherry tomatoes, and seasoned them with some salt and pepper, while the linguini fini cooked. Then all I had to do was mix everything up and lunch was ready before Desi could throw in the towel and grab the phone for some pizza.
The verdict, as we greedily forked up the linguini and slurped it up, was unanimous: delicious.
Happy times.
- 1 16- oz package of linguini fini or linguini or spaghetti
- 4 cups cherry tomatoes halved, then placed in a bowl and sprinkled with some salt and ground black pepper
- 1 large zucchini grated
- 3/4 cup almonds toasted in the microwave for three minutes. Spread on a microwave-safe dish, zap for two minutes on high, then stir and zap for another minute.
- 1 cup basil leaves cut into ribbons
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large cloves of garlic chopped
- Cook the pasta in salted water per package directions until al dente.
- Place the almonds, large tomato, garlic, red pepper flakes, almonds and half the basil in a food processor and process into a coarse paste.
- In a large bowl, mix the pasta, almond-tomato paste, extra virgin olive oil, the remaining basil, zucchini, and the cherry tomatoes.
- Add more salt if needed and serve.
I have all of these ingredients and no plan for dinner tonight. In fact, I was feeling quite stressed about it. I’m making this!
Hannah, hope you try!
Made it last night – awesome! Except I didn’t use oil, but used a no oil oil recipe.
Anon, what a great idea to not add any oil. So glad you tried it.
Hello Vaishali, Trust you are doing great!
The recipe looks so yummy and the best part you are out of the kitchen in no time, WOW! I can’t thank you enough for making my cooking time simple and easy as my work life has become crazy for the past few weeks and will continue with the craziness for about a month or so…I need all the help to still maintain my fairly healthy eating routine. This recipe is now in my “to do list” 🙂
I have been checking your website on and off but did not get a chance to say “Hello”. Sorry about that:((
Nevertheless, I tried some new(for me but oldies for you:)) yummy recipes, as always it was a super hit in my kitchen and a recipe i would repeat.
So I made the Easy Thai curry – quick and delicious with some brown rice on the side.
Peach Streusel Breakfast on a saturday morning – slice of heaven!
Sprouted bean and quinoa Pulao – not only looks good but also tastes good.
A big hug!
Happy tomorrow is Thursday that means weekend around the corner.
Good Night!
Sheela
Hi Sheela, so happy you are trying out the recipes– that Thai curry is one of my favorites too! 🙂 Speed is definitely a big consideration for me, because as much as I’d love to, I rarely have hours to spend in the kitchen– something I’m sure most readers would identify with. It’s always good to hear from you. Many hugs.
Delicious recipe! I didn’t use the oil, but still loved it and found it really satisfying!
Hi TVJ, great idea not to add the oil. So glad you tried it!
After having this on my to-do list forever, finally made it for dinner last night. As usual I didn’t have one of the ingredients because I didn’t pay attention. Even without the zucchini, it made a filling yet light dinner. I fussed about with the ingredients and ended up with about a third of the paste, used half with spaghetti and cherry tomatoes. The rest will be used up for dinner tonight. Thank you for a quick and delicious recipe!
For recipes that make a large quantity (i.e. serves more than 4), it’d be great if you could include some tips on how long it can be stored in the fridge, or freezing tips! It would be very helpful for a newbie like me.
Hi Krithika, glad you enjoyed it! And yes I like that idea of including tips on storing or freezing. Will do!
What type of protein would accompany this well?