It’s a scorching 98 degrees today. And you know the house rules: the oven stays at OFF.
I wish I were one of those girls who could say It’s summer! I’ll just eat “FroYo” for dinner. But no, not me. If I don’t sit down at a table to enjoy a proper meal, I am not a happy camper. And you do not want to see me unhappy, do you?
Tonight’s dinner was inspired by a gorgeous bunch of fresh basil that my mom gave me on a recent trip home (thanks, mom!). This no-cook tomato basil pasta sauce may just be my new go-to. This meal is a healthy and quick make-ahead dish and is relatively heat free.
The sauce is made to sit covered (not refrigerated!) for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. I made the sauce in the morning before work and it took about 30 minutes to wash and chop all of the ingredients. And that was while multi-tasking. Someone had to tell mom her basil was being put to good use…
Within minutes, my apartment smelled like a summer garden. Which reminds me, if you’re lucky enough to have a garden, all you need to do is step outside, pick your ripest tomatoes, some basil and your favorite herbs. Mix with garlic and olive oil and you have yourself a sauce. Voila!
When I got home from my workday, I simply boiled water, cooked the pasta, and mixed the hot pasta into the sauce. While some recipes call for grated Parmesan, I decided to add chunks of fresh mozzarella, inspired by a caprese salad.
This meal took but a few minutes to come together right before dinnertime. But if the man of the house asks, I slaved away for hours…..
Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking magazine. Generously serves 4.
No-Cook Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
What You’ll Need:
8 plum tomatoes, seeded, and chopped into ½ inch pieces (about 4 cups of tomato)
2 teaspoon chopped garlic
½ cup Fresh basil, chopped
½ cup Olive Oil
Salt, to taste (about 1tsp)
red pepper flakes, to taste (about 1tsp)
1 box whole wheat penne
1 cup fresh mozzarella, cubed
How-To:
Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl (glass or ceramic is best). Let sit out, do not refrigerate, for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. When you’re ready to eat, cook your favorite pasta and drain. While pasta is still hot, add to sauce. Add in chunks of mozzarella. Serve with a crusty, rustic bread.
Hold the carbs, please: Love the tomato sauce but don’t want to eat all that pasta? Try the tomato topping on grilled chicken or swordfish.
About the Author: Gillian Nadel is a self-proclaimed foodie living and working in New York City. By day, Gillian works for an entertainment magazine, but spends most of her free time thinking about what or where she’ll eat next. A wise woman once told her that if you like to eat you have to learn to cook (or marry well). She’s still working on both….
Print This Recipe
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow. No cook pasta sauce. That’s a great idea. What can go wrong with tomatoes, paste, basil and mozerella? Nothing!
I love this kind of salad. Sometimes I add chickpeas.
This sounds FANTASTIC! Especially with the fresh mozzarella! I can totally eat froyo for dinner…but it has to be a GIANT froyo…and this sounds much better
I just relinked a tomato/raw marinara sauce of mine in my last post. I love a quickie tomato-based sauce!
This classic pasta screams summer in every bite.
Oh, I love it. It’s totally summer in a bowl…I can just imagine the fresh taste since it’s not cooked. Perfect meal for the hot days
What a perfect summer meal. It’s sounds light but very flavorful with the punch it receives from the garlic and fresh basil. You can count me in on this recipes. The pasta sounds delicious. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
You can’t beat a no cook recipe. I know my kids would dive right into this one!
This sauce sounds divine! Can’t wait to try it.
Maris, I make EXACTLY the same thing! I’ve never thought about making the sauce in advanced though. Will have to do that next time. We have this nearly every week as it’s both fast and delicious. I use the pearl mozzarella in mine, the size is just perfect.
Simple and delicious! [And easy and inexpensive...] All signs of a perfect dinner.
Of course, I’d probably just eat the sauce and forget the pasta. But that’s because I’m crazy like that.*
*And who can eat only fro yo for dinner? I can eat dinner AND fro yo. Or maybe fro yo as a first course…but I agree with you. The sugary-ness of the fro yo would just leave my stomach unsettled!
oh my gosh, you have no idea how good this looks to me right now (and its 7am) – I definitely need to try this!
This pasta sounds wonderful! I love that the sauce doesn’t require cooking, I must try this!
This really is the perfect summer recipe!
98 degrees….. and rising?! I hope you busted out some boy band tunes and choreographed dance steps while making this:)
It’s looks like bruschetta in the bowl – love this idea! I sent my husband to the store over the weekend to buy basil, he ended up buying me a whole basil plant – now I know how to use some of it!
we grow both tomatoes + basil in our garden, so we make pasta dishes like this all the time during the summer. i especially love it with heirloom tomatoes – adds such a lovely color + variety in flavors. now you’ve got me craving this for lunch!
This sounds so appealing and delicious! I have loads of tomatoes as well, so it’s a brilliant idea to use them up.
Looks great! Definitely a tasty combo.
I need to make this! My basil plant is out of control!!
Maris, I just made a bowl of pasta with fresh tomatoes the other night!! Looks like we are all wanting no cook dinners lately!! Your photo of the marinating tomatoes looks heavenly!!
Oh this sounds delicious, and what I wouldn’t give for 98º right now. 109º here.
oooo i love no cook sauces! this looks fabulous! don’t worry, i won’t tell your man
Yum! This looks divine and I love all of the fresh basil. Also love that this is no cook pasta sauce…mmmmmmm!
Who eats froyo for dinner?! That isn’t healthy or filling at all. I’d rather have your pasta. basil + tomato is the best summer combo ever!
Hi Maris, this looks delicious. Isn’t fresh basil season the BEST!!!! There is just so much you can do with it, and it adds such a wonderful flavour!!! I would like to use the sauce as a dip and dunk a few pieces of baguette into it. Ok…I’m officially hungry! Have a great day.
Oh, YUM! What a superb recipe for this heat wave! I love every bit of it, and I’m SO glad you added my favorite fresh mozzarella~
So simple but so delicious! Love it!
very cool
no cooking and tasty and so good for this heat
This looks delicious! I’ve done the tomato/basil combo before but not this method, I’ll have to try it out!
This looks amazing! I bet it’d be super yummy with goat cheese or crumbled feta, too!!
This looks so delicious, I’m gonna bookmark it and will do it sometime..
Oh yum! I am all about simple meals like this that don’t require the use of an oven or slaving over a hot stove!
No cook? Wow… That would be perfect on days like today! This one’s going into my file… Thanks, Maris!
i love recipes like this!
This recipe looks fantastic. I must make it once my tomatoes come in. Just stumbled across your blog and love it!
I can and do eat frozen yogurt for dinner. Also ice cream. I’ll happily eat this for dinner, though!
i love the no cook idea. during the summer month I try to keep my stove off most of the time. your tomato sauce will make my life much easier.
Thanks for sharing and for your lovely words left on my guest post on Nami @ Just One Cookbook blog
Such a perfect meal for summer. Love the addition of fresh mozzarella.
Maris I would love a serve of this and a serve of the sunshine you guys are having too!
What an awesome recipe during these scorching summer days!! It’s really a perfect pasta…one I would never get tired of! How lucky you are that your mom gave you the basil!!!
Wow..no cook pasta sauce..thats the most creative recipe I have ever seen..love the pasta bowl full of cheese & tomatoes!
Maris – what better way to take advantage of summer tomatoes and basil than a simple, fresh no cook sauce. That first photo of the bowl of pasta with it is absolutely gorgeous and mouth-watering!
Sounds wonderful, and it’s so pretty!!
If summer was shorter, maybe I’d giv eup cooking for a while…but two months is too long!
Like you, it’s hard for me not to cook during these hots days. I know it heats up the house, but I think it’s worth it to be an little extra hot
Basil and tomatoes – such a beautiful and classic combination not to mention super yummy as well.
Scrumptious looking! That is a quick sauce I love to make during the summer.
Cheers,
Rosa
You struck a nerve! Those girls that just eat salad or fro yo for dinner drive me nuts. “Fro Yo” drives me nuts. Frozen yogurt. Four syllables. Not hard. Eat some meat or pasta or something besides lettuce.
Speaking of pasta, this looks fabulous.
I also get cranky when I don’t have a real meal in front of me. This looks fabulous! I love that the sauce is no-cook.
Although…I’ll never say no to froyo AFTER my real dinner.
Yes, yes, yes…. a thousand times yes. Although, I’d have to make more of the tomato base, I’d have trouble not eating it before the pasta was done!
Good flavors, quick and flavorful…would be fantastic on bruschetta too! Love the use of all that basil. Have a fantastic weekend!
This looks like just the summer dish I want to make! I have a bunch of fresh basil growing at home. Just cant get enough of it!
Lovely no-cook pasta sauce. I’ve been making something similar this summer with the sweltering heat, with a few kalamata olives thrown in.
Love the idea of not needing to cook this! It looks great!
I love this idea, especially because I can prepare most of it before leaving for work (I work evenings, so don’t leave the house until noon but also don’t get home until 10pm)!
I love your weeknight dinners! I love it even more that this is a no cook. Delcious and refreshing. Perfect for summer!
This no cook sauce is genius! I know what’s for dinner tonight, just going to pick some basil, thanks!!
This no cook sauce is genius! I know what’s for dinner tonight, just going to pick some basil, thanks!!
This is a delicious dish. I have been keeping an eye on my tomatoes – they are getting there! (Thank goodness for farmers markets!) My personal preference is to go heavy on the tomato sauce. Also try adding Feta or Goat cheese and baby spinach (will slight wilt with the hot pasta) and totally easy, fresh and satisfying.
Thanks for this. Anything that doesn’t use the stove or oven is a blessing. It sounds delicious with all that fresh stuff.
I’d want extra so I could eat the sauce with a spoon. This looks amazing.
Brilliant way of making sauce!
I love the tomato topping..I make something similar but with mint and lemon juice instead of basil..sometimes it doesn’t even make it to meet the pasta lol
{ 2 trackbacks }