Summer Squash Spaghetti.

The working title for this dish was Simple Amazing Pasta, but, as my daughter said, "something this amazing deserves a little more descriptive name."  But, it IS simple. REALLY simple. And it is amazing.  Super fresh ingredients are the key.

• thin spaghetti
• zucchini & yellow summer squash, sliced crosswise with a mandoline slicer
• fresh Asiago cheese, shredded
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper
• olive oil

I prepared this dish for two, so I used approximately two servings of pasta, about a 1/4 cup of Asiago, half of a very small zucchini and half of a very small yellow squash, sliced very thin with my mandoline slicer.

Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions, adding 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the water.  With two minutes remaining for the pasta to cook, add the squash to the boiling water.  After two minutes, quickly drain pasta & squash in a colander and return to cooking pan.  Gently mix in Asiago and transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and serve.

This takes about 12 minutes total. Simple. Amazing. Pasta.

Marinated Tomatoes with Pasta.

I bought some spinach & basil fettucine at the farmer's market this week.  Inspired by a picture on the front cover of this month's Martha Stewart Living, i picked up some yellow & red cherry tomatoes and went home to make this recipe.

• pasta (spinach & basil fettucine was amazing!)
• cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ¼ cup fresh basil, torn
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 T rice vinegar
• fresh sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

optional: Parmesan or Asiago cheese, shredded

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Mix other ingredients together, except cheese; once mixed, let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain cooked pasta. Mix tomato mixture into hot pasta and toss. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Serve with a green salad.