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Sara Moulton pairs tomato, goat cheese for fast, fresh summer pasta

 
Use whole-grain pasta like wheat, kamut or spelt. If you’re gluten-intolerant, swap in quinoa, brown rice or buckwheat (a grass).
Use whole-grain pasta like wheat, kamut or spelt. If you’re gluten-intolerant, swap in quinoa, brown rice or buckwheat (a grass).
Published July 25, 2013

By SARA MOULTON

Associated Press

This is the perfect dish for a weeknight dinner in late summer, particularly as kids start heading back to school and family schedules get crazy. The recipe calls for just a handful of ingredients that can be pulled together in the time it takes to boil water.

Tomatoes play a key role, as they should be this time of the year. A fresh local tomato at the height of ripeness is one of those things that make life worth living.

They don't even need to be cooked. Instead, salt them lightly, which intensifies the flavor and pulls out some liquid. This "tomato juice" becomes part of the sauce.

After the tomatoes have marinated in salt for 10 minutes, season them with freshly grated lemon zest, a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil (use the really good stuff) and freshly ground black pepper.

Reach for the goat cheese next. Combined with hot pasta and a little of the pasta cooking liquid, the cheese melts into a creamy sauce without additional thickener. Finish with a liberal sprinkling of herbs.