Summer living at it’s best
Once of my very favourite summer dishes is this simple Italian pasta dish made with four main ingredients. Penne pasta, tomatoes, ricotta cheese and fresh basil. There is one unbreakable rule though – you can only make this dish with the freshest and juiciest seasonal ingredients. If you follow this rule though, you won’t regret it. This penne with tomatoes and ricotta is poolside living and summer entertaining at it’s best. It is fantastically quick to whip up and yet effortlessly chic and stylish to serve up. Make sure you have a chilled bottle of Prosecco on stand by, to get the ultimate Italian effect.
Penne with tomatoes and ricotta is a lazy cooks dream
It really is unbelievable how little time it takes to make this penne with tomatoes and ricotta. Quite simply, you fry the garlic in olive oil with a little thyme and chilli. Then, you add the tomatoes and cook until they have just softened and are about to break down. You don’t want them to completely disintegrate, as it is nice to have some texture in your pasta. They should however have cooked down enough to have made some sauce. Finally, you pour the sauce over the cooked penne and toss through with some fresh ricotta and basil.
I like to use multi-coloured exotic Rosa or cherry tomatoes to make this dish, but if you can’t find any, you can just use the ordinary red ones. It will taste just as delicious! Alternatively, you can also use very ripe Roma or beefsteak tomatoes. Simply cut them into chunks or slice them thickly and then follow the same method. I can’t stress enough though, that the most important thing is to use very red and ripe and tomatoes that are in season.
Penne with Tomatoes and Ricotta
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Ingredients
- 500g penne pasta
- 800g multi-coloured exotic Rosa or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 80ml olive oil, plus a little extra
- 7 garlic cloves, crushed
- 6-8 sprigs of thyme
- 1/4 tsp. chilli flakes or 1 small red chilli, deseeded
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 300g ricotta cheese
- 20g basil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a generous amount of salt. Once it comes to the boil, add the penne pasta and cook according to the pack instructions until it is al dente. Once cooked, drain and place in a large serving bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil to prevent the penne sticking together.
- Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan. Add the garlic, thyme and chilli and fry for about 20-30 seconds until the raw aroma of the garlic has gone. Do not let the garlic brown.
- Add the halved tomatoes with all their juices and fry for about 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until the tomatoes are half soft but not broken down. Season with 1 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of freshly ground black pepper.
- Pour the tomato sauce over the pasta, making sure to scrape all the sauce out the pan with a rubber spatula.
- Crumble the ricotta into large chunks and add it to the pasta. Keep a few basil leaves whole for garnish, and then gently tear the rest into the bowl. Using some pasta tongs, very gently toss all the ingredients together, taking care not to squash the tomatoes and ricotta too much. Taste and sprinkle with a little more salt and freshly ground black pepper if needed. Garnish with the whole basil leaves and serve with a lightly dressed green salad on the side.
