We are not a Meatless Monday kind of house. I know you are just shocked by this.

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Thomas McCormick
5 years ago
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1 We are not a Meatless Monday kind of house. I know you are just shocked by this.

3 I could spend hours in the kitchen, serve my husband the loveliest meal ﬁlled with vegetables and happy pasta carbs, and he would eat every bite. Then he would ask me what we were having for dinner. In fact, when I made this recipe the other day, I oﬀered it to him for dinner and his response? Great, but what s for dinner? So, yeah, no meatless dinners in this house. But sometimes I want the pizza with no meat and all the tomatoes, cheese, garlic, and fresh basil in the land. And, I kind of sometimes (always) love dinners like this simple pasta bursting with one of my favorite ﬂavor combos: basil + tomatoes + garlic. So when Garrett goes out of town or is working through dinner (which is many nights in this season of life), this counter-marinated tomato and garlic pasta is on my menu.

7 Whenever I make this dish, I always enjoy a little bit of nostalgia because this is the ﬁrst recipe I ever created on my own. Way back in my single life days living in DC with my impossibly tiny kitchen when I was rarely motivated to cook for just one and well before I fell in love with cooking, this was a recipe I would make. And I still love it to this day. Plus, it is just so pretty. I love the swirls of fresh basil, the white from the chopped garlic, and the bright red of the tomato. There are only a few ingredients in here, but because we are treating them so nicely and using the freshest ingredients we can ﬁnd, there is a huge ﬂavor payoﬀ in the end. And it is so easy, which is why it was a go-to for me well before I ever learned how to cook in the days where I would not have dreamed of one day having a food blog.

10 Here s how we make it. We cut up lots of ripe tomatoes. Mince up a few garlic cloves (more if you love garlic, fewer if you don t). Make pretty little basil strips. Stir it all together with a generous pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper. Pour in some olive oil and give it another stir. Cover and let it sit out on the counter for the afternoon. Wait, I know what you are thinking. You leave it out on the counter? You make a pasta sauce without cooking it? I know it seems strange, but listen, something magical happens with the tomatoes and the salt and the olive oil throughout the afternoon. The olive oil mellows out the ﬂavor of the garlic, the salt pulls out liquid from the tomatoes, it all gets soft and happy and turns into a ﬂavorful little sauce. When it s time to eat, I use a fresh pasta from the refrigerated section (like Buitoni) and stir the cooked pasta and the sauce together on the stove over low heat for just a few minutes to warm everything up. Then I top it oﬀ with more basil, fresh mozzarella or shaved parmesan (sometimes both, let s be honest), pile it high on a plate, pour a glass of red wine, and turn on a chick ﬂick. I might as well fully embrace my night at home alone, right?

12 5.0 from 1 reviews Print Counter-Marinated Tomato + Garlic Pasta Author: Jessica Wood Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 35 mins Serves: 4 Diced tomatoes, minced garlic, and fresh basil marinate in olive oil on the counter for a few hours, making an incredibly ﬂavorful sauce that pairs beautifully with fresh pasta. Ingredients 6-7 Roma tomatoes, diced (keep seeds) 2-3 garlic cloves, minced very small 5 basil leaves, torn or sliced (plus additional for topping) Pinch of salt and pepper ¼ cup olive oil 9 oz fresh pasta (like Buitoni) Fresh mozzarella, cubed (optional) Fresh parmesan, shaved (optional) Instructions 1. Combine diced tomatoes, minced garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Stir to combine and cover bowl. Set aside on counter, stirring occasionally, and let marinade for 4-5 hours. 2. Cook pasta according to package instructions and drain. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine cooked pasta and sauce. Stir together and let warm through for about 5 minutes. 3. If desired, top with fresh mozzarella, fresh parmesan, and/or fresh basil pieces. Enjoy!

13 Linking up with The Country Cook for the Weekend Potluck!

And, look, this is just fancy salad so we are being very healthy!

And, look, this is just fancy salad so we are being very healthy! If you ve been following along for any amount of time now, you ve probably gathered that my adventures in the kitchen are basically an operation in how can I ﬁt more lime, cilantro, and garlic into my