Since Donald and Travis are out of town this week, Jordan and I thought it would be a perfect time to make a few girly meals. This pasta dish was not only delicious, it was great to use up some fresh tomatoes from the garden. When Jordan was younger she hated fresh tomatoes, just recently though, she has discovered how wonderful tomatoes are. I don’t know if she will love the icky store bought ones that we are forced to consume when we don’t have them growing in the garden, but in the meantime I am loving the fact that she now likes tomatoes.

The guys would rather starve than eat something like this – it has all of their most hated ingredients: sun dried tomatoes, pesto, basil and for Travis, fresh tomatoes. So it was the perfect girl’s night meal!

While shopping at Target earlier in the day we found this really interesting pasta, it is called Trottole. Which means spinning top in Italian. It was wonderful – I love interesting shaped pasta! It made the dish extra hearty and the pasta had a great texture. But seriously, this dish would be great with any type of pasta.

This dish came together very quickly. It was helpful to have everything prepped and ready to go since I really didn’t need to cook any of the ingredients for the sauce, we were pretty much just heating it.

While pasta is cooking, pour olive oil into skillet, add garlic and cook until golden brown.

Then add sun dried tomatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, half & half, and the pasta water and heat.

I turned the burner off until the pasta was finished. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add the yellow tomatoes to the sauce and a dollop of pesto and stir.

Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta…

and stir.

Add the Parmesan cheese and stir again. Serve with a few extra drips of pesto and some fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Mmmmm – enjoy. I was thinking later, this dish would have been good with a bit of fresh spinach, added to the sauce, or even a bit of kale.

Trottole Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Basil (creative name, eh?)
1 pound of pasta, cook to al dente
2 T olive oil
2 t minced garlic
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup pasta water
2 T fresh basil, cut into strips
2 cups fresh tomatoes, sliced (I used yellow pear shaped)
1 t. pesto
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Pesto and fresh grated Parmesan cheese for garnish.

While pasta is cooking, pour olive oil into skillet, add garlic and cook until golden brown. Then add sun dried tomatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, half & half, and the pasta water and heat. I turned the burner off until the pasta was finished. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add the yellow tomatoes to the sauce and a dollop of pesto and stir. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and stir. Add the Parmesan cheese and stir again. Serve with a few extra drips of pesto and some fresh grated Parmesan cheese.