Summer Harvest Pasta

 

Summer in my house is all about tomatoes and basil, you know summer has arrived when tomatoes are in abundance. (Both on the vines – and cheap enough to have with every meal!)

This recipe is a light, fresh, family-friendly pasta to enjoy while the sun is high.

Fettucine with tomato, basil & prosciutto

Serves 4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

 
 

Ingredients

For the pesto

1 large bunch of basil

Olive oil

2 cloves of peeled garlic

100g parmesan cheese, grated

100g pine nuts

For the pasta

20 or so home-grown cherry tomatoes (try your local farmers’ market if you haven’t grown your own)

400g pasta

8 slices of prosciutto, torn into strips

Parmesan cheese, grated, to serve

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Place tomatoes on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes.

  2. While the tomatoes are roasting, toast the pine nuts in a frying pan on moderate heat, until they are light brown in colour. This should take only a couple of minutes. Make sure you watch them, because they can burn quickly.

  3. When the pine nuts are cool, place them in a blender with the garlic, basil and parmesan. Add about 2–3 tablespoons of olive oil and then blend. Set the pesto to one side.

  4. Place a large pot of salted water (about 4 litres) on the stove to boil. When the water boils, add pasta, and turn heat down to medium-high, to prevent the water boiling over.

  5. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

  6. Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the basil pesto and prosciutto and stir together gently to combine.

  7. Add the roasted cherry tomatoes and stir them gently through the pasta.

  8. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

 
THOMAS NEWFIELD