Ziti with Fresh Tomatoes and Olives

Ziti with Fresh Tomatoes and Olives

Last night the evening Book Club that I am in, the Litwits, did something completely different.

Our July hosts, Sam and Alexa, are caterers and chefs.  They suggested we all make a dish from a favorite cookbook, bring copies of the recipe, and we could have a meal together and discuss.

I was introduced to a number of yummy cookbooks last night.

And the food was incredible!

We had a great time sharing our dishes, our cookbooks, and catching up on a beautiful summer evening.

I had planned to take a crawfish etouffe last night, but this week is pretty crazy with contractors in and out of the house, lots of activities and appointments with the boys, and trying to get the house in good shape for our visitors arriving tomorrow!

So, I went with something much quicker - and a dish I thought sounded great for summer.

I must say - I fully intended to use ziti, but couldn't find it anywhere!  Who knew?  Trips to two great grocery stores in town and no ziti at all - so we used penne.  Turns out - our chef friends also use penne when ziti isn't available.  What's up with no ziti in town??

This is a very simple dish, and I loved it.  I will be modifying it slightly from the original recipe in one of my favorite go-to cookbooks

I like this dish because it can be served warm or cold.

I started by combining chopped fresh tomatoes, oil-cured black olives sliced in half, olive oil, lots of fresh basil and parsley, minced garlic, Kosher salt, and hot red pepper flakes. 

I mixed it up and let it sit together for half an hour or so while I cooked the pasta.

Once the pasta was cooked and drained I mixed the tomato sauce and pasta together.  I added a little seasoning and covered it to serve later at the Litwits.

I felt the dish was too pasta-heavy going with the original recipe.

So next time I will cut the amount and let the tomatoes be the star.

The modified recipe is below.

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

Buon Appetito!