Super Easy Summer Recipe - Remembering Arizona

Hi all! I'm baaaaaaack! Miss me? ;)

Had.an.AMAZING.time in AZ. Admittedly, I am WAY depressed to be back on the East Coast and super sad to be away from Kelly and Steve (and Kim too but I'd only have to hop in the car and drive 15 min max to see her).

I'm not quite ready to post my vacay pics yet b/c I have a lot to do around here and it's gonna take some lengthy uninterrupted time to do it up right for you guys. Keep your eyes peeled though...they'll be comin' your way sometime this week, I hope...

For today, just in case you are awaiting a blog post from me with bated breath...here's a little somethin' to whet your whistle.

Kelly and Steve made this dish for Kim and I on our first night in AZ and I fell in love with it. It's easy and so so delish. I was needing some fresh recipes for summer and this fits in perfectly with that.

So here goes...

You'll need very few ingredients:

Penne pasta, grape tomatoes (cherry, roma, plum etc are also fine, I would imagine) extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan reggiano cheese, fresh basil, garlic, sea salt and pepper not pictured

Your first step is to boil the water for your pasta (not pictured) - I add a little EVOO and sea salt to the water to keep the pasta from sticking and also to bring out the flavor of the pasta

Chop your tomatoes


Put a little EVOO in your pan...add some fresh minced garlic...

I use my Pampered Chef garlic press to get my garlic minced just right...


Add your chopped tomatoes


Meanwhile, if your pasta water is boiling, you may now add your penne (to the water, not the tomatoes - just in case you got a little confused here) (cook pasta according to the directions on the box)

Saute tomatoes

Pick and chop your fresh basil - smells DIVINE

I use my Pampered Chef food chopper to get them to the perfect size...


Add basil to your tomatoes


At this time, I flavor my tomato mixture with a little sea salt and black pepper

Drain your pasta

Toss the penne pasta with the tomato mixture and top with freshly shredded parmesan-reggiano cheese

I used my Pampered Chef cheese shredder to accomplish this


Here is the finished product:


And there you have it...a super simple summer meal...few ingredients and takes no time at all...and did I mention that it's healthy and superbly delicious?

Oh yeah, and my kiddos liked it too...BONUS!


Serve it up by itself or with a green salad...YUM.

Enjoy!

P.S. This recipe features Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Queen Creek Olive Mill in Queen Creek, AZ (we spent the afternoon there on Saturday - it was blissful - I felt so posh) lol


Check them out @ http://queencreekolivemill.com/