This is a Guest Post by the Super Amazing One Hundred Dollars a Month reader Mel {she’s the one who made A Freezer Meal Menu Plan for Four Month’s Worth of Meals, and then made a Big List of Freezer Meal Recipes and Freezer Meal Cooking Tips.
Mel has also shared how she made all those AWESOME gift bags and shared her recipe for DIY Lemonade Concentrate}. She also told us about her Experience Joining a CSA and Eating More Vegetables. I think at this point, we pretty much all want to live next to Mel. I know I do! Here is her latest post:
Every year, we seem to be drowning in tomatoes by the end of the summer. Everything else in our garden is pretty hit or miss, but the tomatoes (knock on wood) tend to be extremely reliable. Although we give some away and toss a few to the chickens, we generally use up almost all of the tomatoes we grow from 24-32 plants.
We eat an absurd number of BLTs, caprese salads, and bruschetta toasts, and I also freeze about 70 lbs to make ketchup and Mavis’s pizza sauce and heirloom tomato pasta sauce.
Last year, however, I hit a bit of a snag because I had made so much sauce with the previous year’s harvest that I didn’t need to make more. So, I had to get creative, and I came up with this simple recipe. It works great as a side dish, but I think it could even hold its own as a main dish with some beans, meat, or shrimp, and a grate of Parmesan. It’s also still light enough to be served warm even in the middle of summer.
Ingredients:
- 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1.5-2 cups tomatoes (whole cherry tomatoes, chopped larger tomatoes, or a mix)
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar (or regular balsamic vinegar)
- ½ lb. of linguini, spaghetti, or angel hair pasta
- ½ package baby spinach or other baby greens
- 3 Tablespoons of chopped fresh basil (or other fresh herbs)
Instructions:
Get the pasta going in one pot, and heat the olive oil in a separate pan that is large enough to accommodate the finished dish.
Add the tomatoes to the oil, tossing occasionally until heated through and starting to pop open.
Stir in the minced garlic and butter to the tomato mixture.
Add the salt and balsamic to the tomato mixture.
Drain the pasta and add it to the tomato mixture while it is still hot. Toss to coat.
Add the spinach, a handful or two at a time, and toss in the hot pasta until wilted.
Serve, topped with fresh herbs.
deb k says
Thank you so much for the recipe. It looks so good and so easy, I’m going to make it tonight. Thanks.
Mel says
No problem! I hope you like it!
Janet in Woodway, WA says
Hi Mel!! Love hearing from you with all your good ideas! I do something similar adding zucchini, because you know zucchini, and a few shakes of red pepper flakes!!
Thanks so much!!
Mel says
Sounds delicious! I almost never have zucchini on hand because it doesn’t grow for us, but I’ll have to try the red pepper flakes.
Rebecca says
This looks fabulous! I can’t wait to try it when our next batch of cherry tomatoes ripen. What gardening zone are you in Mel? Our cherry varieties are doing great but our other tomato plants are getting huge but not really producing. Do you or Mavis have any advice on tomato growing? We moved just 55 miles south of where we used to live and never had this problem before. Thanks again for the recipe!
Rebecca
Mel says
I hope you like it!
We’re in Zone 7B in Southern Maryland. It has been a truly bizarre year though. Our first cherry tomatoes ripened after only 45 days! They still haven’t really gotten rolling, but they’re getting close to hitting their stride. Our larger tomatoes, with the exception of one or two varieties (looking at you, Green Zebra) are loaded with green fruit and have already ripened a couple–again, weeks early. If I had to guess, I would say the extreme heat we’ve been seeing is the cause since we’ve had long stretches in the high 80s or 90s since late spring. We’ve also had more early blight than we’ve ever seen.
Did the plants flower? If so, they might just be running late. Or, if it’s too hot, sometimes plants will drop flowers. Sometimes soil deficiencies can affect the number of flowers as well.
Linda says
Thank you for sharing your recipe! And thank you for the zucchini idea Janet! I am also taken over with the zucchini! Love it though so no complaints, but always like hearing new ideas to use it up!
Mel says
You’re welcome! I’m sure those that can actually grow zucchini have better ideas, but I usually just make oatmeal zucchini muffins, chocolate zucchini bread, zoodles, and veggie lovers pasta salad when I need to use it up.
Dianna says
Yum! I make something basically like this at least once a week during summer. I also use yellow squash and zucchini, a couple of spring onions, and a generous sprinkle of shaved parmesan. My favorite garden meal!
Lynne says
I seem to have a steady supply of zucchini so I’m going to try replacing the noodles with zoodles! Thanks!!
Amy says
This was very good!! Will continue to make throughout the summer. Thank you!