It’s that glorious time of year when zucchini’s growing by the armful and tomatoes are starting to ripen. This zucchini and cherry tomato pasta recipe is a summertime fave, enjoyed when the veggie garden’s at its peak.
I’ve been experimenting more with spiralized zucchini this year, and as you can see, I’ve been loving the stuff. Better late than never trend-wise, eh?
Cherry tomatoes, on the other hand, have been a love of mine for awhile. So when I first saw this video on the Serious Eats Facebook page, I practically tripped over the dogs and the cats on my way to the kitchen in order to make it pronto. Okay, I may actually have tripped over the dogs and the cats – with two of each, they’re everywhere!
So this sauce. It’s so very simple. Basically, you saute garlic in a good bit of olive oil, then you add the cherry tomatoes. Cook, cook, cook until they burst, and all those wonderful juices form a lovely thick sauce.
Add a handful of fresh basil and some salt and pepper and you have a pasta sauce in as much time as it takes to boil pasta. Talk about an easy late summer dinner.
So there I was – obsessing over zoodles, cherry tomatoes, and that video and well, sometimes the dinner ideas just make themselves! Not literally, of course – but how cool would it be if dinner just made itself? I can’t be the only busy mom who has fantasized about this. Perhaps dancing spaghetti and self-stirring sauce would be a little disturbing, but so worth it. Oh so worth it.
My points – and there are many of them, lord – is that this Zoodles & Noodles with Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce was born out of many current obsessions plus a very real need to have dinners that make themselves (I can’t move past this concept). But the fact is, this recipe kind of practically does make itself. (In other words: super easy).
I love mixing zucchini noodles with pasta – it makes a dish much lighter than if it were made with 100% pasta, but heartier than if it were made with zucchini only. Win-win!
Note to my garden: Please oh please hang in there a few more weeks, will you? Because I can’t get enough of this super-simple dinner.