This recipe, from Menu 30 in Lisa’s cookbook Whatever Happened to Sunday Dinner?, was made for the slow pace of summer. Just boil your pasta, drain, and throw it in a big bowl with sweet cherry tomatoes, lots of garlic, fresh-picked basil leaves, and a quality extra-virgin olive oil. In Sicily, we leave it on the beach in the sun while we swim, and eat it afterwards! Buonissimo!!! 

Watch Lisa make her Pasta alla Checca on the Lisa’s Italian Kitchen YouTube channel here.

Lisa’s Pasta alla Checca Ingredients:

2 pounds penne

2 pounds cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon seal salt

10 large, fresh basil leaves

grated Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)

Lisa’s Pasta alla Checca Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook until al dente, 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pasta bowl, toss together the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and salt. Pile the basil leaves on top of one another, roll them up into a cigarette shape, and cut them across into 8 strips. Add to the bowl and toss with the other ingredients.

Drain the pasta, add to the bowl, and toss to mix well. Serve sprinkled with Parmigiano, if you like.