Capellini with Fresh Tomato Pesto + Pecorino

Every week, Caroline Wright creates simple, civilized recipes for Food52 that feed four -- for under $20, in under 20 minutes.

Today: Tomato sauce is updated for summertime -- and gets a jolt of personality along the way.

Capellini is a perfect pasta shape for summer: it cooks quickly and is best with just the whisper of a sauce to avoid a tangled mess on the plate. Pesto, an already beloved summer standby in my house, seemed like the perfect accompaniment -- with a twist, of course! I snagged some fresh tomatoes that were sitting on the counter to give my pesto a different flair from the traditional verdant variety. Twirled with the capellini, this sauce felt like the quickest summery response to a tomato sauce -- with a lot more personality. Next time I might try to switch up the herbs even more by adding a handful of parsley leaves or a few capers.

Capellini with Fresh Tomato Pesto + Pecorino

Serves 4

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grape tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons sun-dried or regular tomato paste
1/2 packed cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup crumbled walnuts
1/4 cup coarsely grated Pecorino, plus more for serving if desired
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for serving if desired
8 ounces capellini 

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

As a freelance food writer and cook, I first wrote this style of recipe as a column on my blog, The Wright Recipes, as an excuse to cook good food for my friends in a quick and simple way.

Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute™ Meals grew into a cookbook that was published by Workman in May 2013. The recipes found here are original, made especially for Food52 to once again celebrate simple food with friends.

Photo by Caroline Wright