red or green?: Summer Pasta With No-Cook Tomato Sauce

When fresh produce is perfectly ripe, I do not like to mess around with overly complicated recipes. This pasta dish is a perfect example. Just picked-from-the-garden tomatoes combined with fresh garlic, sweet onion and a handful of herbs. Of course I add dried red pepper flakes for some heat...this is the Red or Green? Blog after all.

I don't even cook this sauce. The heat from the hot pasta warms the vegetables and melts the cheese. Easy, quick, no-cook, delicious. Wonderful on scorching summer nights. Just do me a favor, do not even attempt this dish without sustainably grown, in-season produce and the best-quality-you-can-afford ingredients. A recipe this simple requires excellence from each item. Enjoy!

Summer Pasta With No-Cook Tomato Sauce
(serves 6 as a main course)

2 lbs heirloom tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sweet onions, chopped
1/4 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
pinch dried red pepper flakes
1/4 cup basil leaves (julienned)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
sea salt
black pepper
8 oz fresh buffalo mozzarella, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 lb dried pasta (any shape you like)

Place first 7 ingredients in a large, non-metal, bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions. When cooked, drain and add hot pasta to tomato mixture. Immediately stir in herbs and cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Serve hot or at room temperature.