© Shania Pinnata

# Pasta with pesto and tomatoes

This quick and delicious pasta dish is the perfect way to use up a summer bounty of basil and tomatoes!

Don't have a green thumb? Never fear! You can knock out this classic pasta dish in no time with a jar of prepared pesto sauce.

- Servings 4
- Prep Time 5
- Cook Time 25
- Total Time 30

- Spaghetti or linguine pasta 8 oz.
- Fresh basil leaves + 4-8 reserved leaves for garnish 2 cups
- Cloves garlic 2
- Pine nuts or blanched almonds 2 tbsp.
- Olive oil 1/2 cup
- Parmesan cheese + 2 tbsp. for garnish. 1/2 cup
- Salt 1/8 tsp
- Cherry tomatoes 1 pint
- Olive oil 1 tsp
- Variation: Got no time, or no fresh basil? Use a 6 ounce jar of prepared pesto instead.

- Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Salt the water generously and add the pasta.
- While the pasta cooks, make the pesto.
  - Remove stems from basil leaves.
  - Put the basil, garlic, and pine nuts or almonds into the bowl of a food processor and pulse it a few times to chop them up.
  - Then, turn the food processor on and slowly pour the olive oil through the feeder tube to blend with the chopped herbs and nuts.
  - Process until all ingredients are fully blended, stopping the food processor to scrape down the sides occasionally to get it all mixed.
  - Turn off the food processor, and add the salt and Parmesean, then pulse a few times to blend.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the 1/2 tsp. olive oil to the heated skillet.
- Add the cherry tomatoes to the skillet and let them blister, stirring occasionally and gently so they don't burst.
- Remove tomatoes from the pan and set aside.
- Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
- Return the pasta to the pot
- Add the reserved cooking water and pesto to the pasta and stir to mix
- Plate the pasta and add 6-8 tomatoes to each plate
- Garnish with reserved basil leaves and Parmesean and serve.

  Buon Appetito!