Pasta with Tomatoes, Zucchini & Pesto

Summertime pasta is the perfect dish when it's hot and you're pressed for time. Lightly sauteed, fresh summer vegetables, garlic, pasta, and olive oil are all you need for an attractive and healthy meal.

I found this recipe for Pasta with Tomatoes, Zucchini & Pesto on Epicurious.com and, with a 95% approval rating and comments that indicated it was an easy and satisfying dish, I was sold. I have to say, with Epicurious recipes, I put my faith in the reader comments. And that strategy has always paid off.

This was no exception. I had a very narrow window of time to sit down and eat dinner with hubby. He raved about its tastiness and, with a nice baguette, was completely satisfied before I dashed off to my evening meeting.

I had two beautiful zucchini from the Farmers' Market, one yellow and one green, that needed a good recipe to showcase their lovely colors, along with the tomatoes, with a little sliced fresh basil and store-bought pesto.

It was a mild dish, none of the flavors were overpowering, but hearty enough for a hot summer evening. As the recipe is for 6 servings and I only needed 2, I cut quantities across the board.

Next time, I'll use all fresh tomatoes, rather than the canned tomatoes. The additional time would be minimal and make a much improved dish. I used a lovely Old German heirloom tomato to garnish — just look at this beauties!