*tap tap* Hello? Is this thing still on?
I’m back, and like most times where I take an extended break from this, it’s because I’ve been up to things in my real life. In this instance, it was losing 100+ pounds, which can really impact the food/cooking blog hobby. This is more than just “cooking/food” and “blogging”, so I’m making yet another attempt to resurrect this beast, now almost 11 years old.
I honestly did not cook a thing for this blog in 2024 (and haven’t yet for 2025), so we’re still working off the 2023 backlog…which is dwindling quick. I’ll remedy that soon. For now, here’s one of the last few left–12-12: Pasta Shells with Tomato Sauce.
This is a recipe I had specifically saved to make with homegrown tomatoes and basil from a summer garden. Tomatoes and basil are a of the few things I’ve actually been able to grow in my garden, so it was worth the wait.
According to Kenji, adding oil to the pasta water (as mentioned in the TIPS above) does nothing. You should add salt though (which Simply Delicious does not explicitly mention).
Ingredients. Yes, I grew all those tomatoes in my backyard. Honey is a “unique” purchase from Grocery Outlet, that I happened to have and thought might work well here. Not pictured: basil (I’ll show you later).
Making the required “X” in the tomato.
Cut the rest of them (one had an issue, but all the others were okay). They were overripe, as mentioned in the recipe card.
Ran out and snipped some fresh basil for this recipe. I love having an herb garden–it’s quite the treat to use something fresh and it doesn’t get much more local than your own backyard.
Cooking the pasta shells.
Blanching the sliced tomatoes.
That one peeled nicely–they didn’t all go that smoothly.
This looks like a murder scene.
I have a food mill–I should have used that instead of this potato masher.
Mashing results. I guess they are close enough to crushed.
Chopped the basil.
Added the basil to the olive oil, honey, and other ingredients.
Added in the crushed tomatoes.
It’s a quick sauce, but it will do.
Final bowl, with a little Parmesan cheese on top (which is optional).
A simple summer dinner, and only somewhat messy. Something to think about if you’re making your garden planting plans.
Grade: A
