Sunday, August 14

Easy Summer Pasta Recipe: Linguine or Bowties with Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, and Sun Dried Tomato Artichoke Pesto

A simple and delicious way to celebrate summer's bounty (recipe here)

Despite planting several different varieties at several different times, this isn't turning out to be The Year of the Tomato in my kitchen garden.

At least I have the ravenous, tomato loving blister beetles under control, thanks to my trusty food grade diatomaceous earth. (You can read more about the many ways we use this wonderful stuff—which is 100% organic and totally safe for people, pets, and the environment—around the farm, house, and garden here.)

My beloved Arkansas Traveler tomatoes are finally starting to ripen, and I'm hopeful that the first sorry specimens are just a fluke, and this heat and humidity tolerant, crack and disease resistant pink heirloom will perform as well as it has in previous years. (I list more of my favorite heirloom tomatoes to grow here.)

In the meantime, the three volunteer cherry tomato plants I allowed to stay in my new little perennial bed now cover over 100 square feet of garden space (I think the perennials are still in there somewhere), and I've been picking lots of tiny red, pink, and orange tomatoes every day.

Sometimes I think we'd starve if it weren't for the volunteer vegetables.

The gazpacho and homemade tomato vegetable juice I've been craving all summer will have to wait, and I don't think I'll be needing my Seven Second Tomato Glut Solution anytime soon.

But the basil is also going gangbusters, which means it's time to feast on Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, and Sun Dried Tomato & Artichoke Pesto!

sun dried tomato artichoke pesto with fresh tomatoes - Copy
Adding fresh tomatoes to the pesto made it even better (recipe here)

Two summers ago I discovered this dish and lived on it for most of a month. I even ate it for breakfast. While mixing up the third or fourth batch of  quick and easy pesto, I took a cue from my favorite basil pesto recipe and added some fresh tomatoes to the mix. Yum. This version is a little thinner than the original, with more tomato flavor and fewer calories.

Both versions, which also taste great spread on hunks of crusty bread (either plain or mixed with cream cheese and more romano), are hard to stop eating.

Are there cherry tomatoes in your garden this year? What's your favorite way to enjoy them?

© FarmgirlFare.com, getting redder and riper all the time.

12 comments:

  1. I have Sweet 100s which are REALLY tiny and yellow pear and red pear tomatoes for the little ones this year. So far, they have been going in salads, pretty boring huh?

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  2. looks very very yummy! so glad I found your blog while searching on how to freeze summer squash. I'm a new follower :)

    I have a new foodie blog if your interested in checking it out: http://homemadeisalwaysbetter.blogspot.com/

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  3. I've always enjoyed your blog for the farm animal pix, and now that you're posting gorgeous and mouth-watering photos of your culinary dishes, welll....now I really love your blog! Gorgeous photos! I'm making your pesto and white bean dip tomorrow! The beans are soaking as we speak!

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  4. YUM! This looks incredibly flavorful!

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  5. Having been a spoiled Southern California veg gardener for decades, I poo-pooed cherry tomato yields, as ANYONE could grow those. After moving to beautiful New England, I have new respect for any tomatoes at all. I even planted some insurance heirloom Black Cherry cherry tomatoes and they are finally ripening. Sorry Susan that your bigger tomatoes are giving some grief, but yes, thank the heavens for cherry volunteers! Happy Summer!

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  6. The only cherry variety I have is a kind called Baby Cakes. Amazing flavor and INCREDIBLY prolific. I discovered the best way to use the bounty is to juice them. SO GOOD. I don't drink it, but I use it for cooking roasts and things.

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  7. It looks fantastic. That pesto looks really yummy!

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  8. I'd love to see what your garden looks like! Could you post a picture so we can be inspired to grow all these vegetables that you grow?

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  9. Hi Everybody,
    Thanks for all the comments - and the cherry tomato updates! :)


    Connecticut Blogger,
    There are 120 recipes (all with photos) in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index! :)

    Anonymous,
    In 2006 I created an offshoot blog devoted to the goings on in my organic kitchen garden, which I actually linked to five times in the beginning of this post.

    It's called In My Kitchen Garden:
    http://inmykitchengarden.com

    There are currently 300 posts in the archives, filled with photos from the garden and all sorts of helpful growing info and tips. Enjoy!

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  10. I read your earlier post about the diatomaceous earth use in your livestock water and this reference for killing bugs. I am now ready to try it out. Will it take care of grasshoppers? flea beetles? Thanks for your hard work posting this blog it is great.

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  11. Hi Mcraven,
    I'm not sure about grasshoppers, but I would definitely try the diatomaceous earth on flea beetles. Just sprinkle it liberally over the plants they're attacking and on the ground around them - and reapply after it rains.

    And the good thing is that if the diatomaceous earth doesn't work on them, there are lots of other uses for it! :)

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  12. That looks delicious! There are few things finer than freshly harvested tomatoes :)

    I host a weekly roundup of garden progress, recipes and all things related to the garden. I'd love to have you stop by and check it out. http://www.noordinaryhomestead.com/category/sustainable-living/in-the-garden/garden-life-link-up/

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December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

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