I was a crankypants yesterday. I hadn’t slept well, my day was long and frustrating, and so I was less than charming by the time I got home. When I went to make dinner, I needed something that tasted like summer. Something easy that would brighten my day and I found it.

I made up this recipe based off of a raw tomato pasta sauce that I saw in Bon Appetit this month. Check it out if you are interested. I had a ton of cherry tomatoes in the house and two zucchini and decided to make something awesome. I was thrilled that it was a success.

Yum!

I wanted to make a cooked sauce out of the tomatoes, but instead of simmering on the stove top, I decided to roast a sauce out of them. So I seasoned them up and put them in a pan to roast. I roasted the zucchini separately. They looked so pretty in the pans.

These fresh tomatoes were so delicious. I could have just eaten them up as is.

And trust me, I did with many of them.

But, roasting this sauce made it so sweet and delicious. Full of juices that soaked in to the pasta. I will definitely be making this recipe again. I just wish it hadn’t made my kitchen so hot! I certainly see why the original recipe was for a raw sauce.

Pennette Pasta with Summer Vegetables

1/2 pound pennette pasta, or mini penne
2 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 small jalapeno, or 1/2 large one, minced
2 zucchini, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup basil, torn
parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper
lemon pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix tomatoes, garlic, and jalapeno in large oven pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

In a second dish, toss zucchini with a drizzle of olive oil and season with some lemon pepper.
Put water on to boil.

When the oven is ready, put in tomato mixture and Zucchini mixture. Cook for 20 min.

Cook pasta in water to desired doneness. Try and coordinate everything to finish around the same time.

When tomato mixture is cooked and nicely bubbling, pull out and add the vinegars to the mixture. After that, add the hot pasta to the tomato sauce and toss with the fresh basil. Add Zucchini to the mix and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Let the pan sit for about 10 minutes, mixing occasionally. This gives it time for the pasta to soak up all of the delicious juices from the tomatoes.

Voila! It will taste like heaven and cure even the crankiest of moods. It was like summer in my mouth and suddenly I had a smile on my face. Try it out if you find yourself with a surplus of tiny tomatoes.