Tony is my husband. He brought home a recipe he had gotten from someone at work, and it was adapted over time to this recipe--so I named it Tony's Summer Pasta. The tomatoes and cheese are marinated in oil, basil, and garlic, and then tossed with the hot linguine. The tomatoes are warmed and the cheese melts ever so slightly, creating a simple but delectable meal.

Tony's Summer Pasta

(16 ounce) package linguini pasta

roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped

mozzarella cheese

basil

garlic,

olive oil

garlic salt

black pepper

Combine tomatoes, cheese, basil, garlic, olive oil, garlic salt, and black pepper in medium bowl.  Set aside.


Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.


Drain pasta, and transfer to a serving bowl.  Toss with tomato mixture.  Serve.


I used bocconcini (little fresh mozzarella balls) instead of the shredded mozzarella and red-ripe Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped. I skipped the garlic salt - totally unnecssary. To avoid a strong taste of raw garlic I mixed the minced garlic with a little salt, then used the flat side of my chef's knife to mash it into a paste. I added all ingredients to taste rather than measuring. A plate of this and I'm happy. Very happy.

Simple, delicious - and not just for summer! Although, I'll definitely remember this for summer when garden ripe tomatoes are in season. I subbed penne pasta for the linguini and opted to use fresh mozzarella that I sliced and chopped vs. shredded. I also used regular salt vs. garlic salt.  This is a great side dish for any meal or you could make this a meal in and of itself it's so good.  Next time I might add a splash of balsamic vinegar or a bit of crushed red pepper flakes for a little pizzaz!

This was dinner for us last night. I used whole wheat pasta, cut down the mozzerella cheese in half and cut the EVOO WAY down to a 1/4 c., if that. I also used fresh garlic. My boys seemed to like this but my husband thought it would have been better with a mixture of parmesan and mozzerella. Good base recipe to tweak any way you like to make it suit your family.

I was really excited about this recipe and followed it exactly except I added 1/4 lb of prosciutto.  However the garlic really overpowered the taste from the tomatoes and the basil.  We love garlic, but it is very powerful raw.  I would decrease the amount of garlic if I were to make it again.

Try this with brie cheese instead of the mozzarella.  Cut rind off first, and tear or cut into small chunks.  It's the BEST!  I've had this recipe for 20 years, and make it every summer with fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden.  The brie is a must-try!

This recipe is fantastic! I served Tony's Summer Pasta for a family dinner party and everyone wanted me to email the recipe to them.  Someone even suggested you could try feta cheese instead of the mozzarella.

very good and full of flavor.  in order to cut down on the calories, i left the cheese out of the recipe completely and added a few more veggies to the marinade.  i put some grated parmesan on the table when i served it so people could add a little parmesan to the top if they wished, but no one really missed it.  it was a huge hit.  i was able to serve this again cold as a nice summer pasta salad using bite-sized pasta instead of the pasta strands.  fresh lemon is great in this dish as well!

Basically a good recipe idea, but I would make
the following changes:
        double the tomatoes &amp; basil
        4 cloves (instead of 6) of garlic
        cut the cheese in half


I followed this recipe exactly.  I used 6 cloves of garlic as called for in the recipe.  I used fresh garlic (the kind you peel and then mince the cloves).  I love garlic but this pasta had incredibly too much garlic!!  Maybe it was using the fresh garlic that made it over potent.  My husband and I both could not finish our serving due to the overpowering garlic.

This is an AWESOME summer pasta!  I used seasonal tomatoes and fresh mozzarella .  I didn't use garlic salt, but I did add some regular salt.  I'm a garlic lover, but six raw cloves would be way too much.  Chopped raw garlic is a bit much for me, especially if I have to work or be around people the next day!  I grated one clove and that was plenty.  Also, if you mix the ingredients with the hot pasta, your pasta will be room temperature.  That was fine with me, but if you want your noodles piping hot, heat everything but the cheese in the pan.  I had some leftover tomato mixture that I ate for an amazing salad the next day.  Great recipe!

Yum! Great summer meal.  No changes need to be made to this recipe!

I've been making a recipe like this for decades. The only thing I do differently is cube the mozzarella and I always marinade the sauce overnight at the very least, but 2 days is much better. This is one of my very favorite summer meals.

Fresh and Delicious, not to mention super quick and easy to prepare.  My fiance loved this recipe.  I halved everything and it was more than enough for two.

I made this for my family dinner. I thought there was too much pasta and way too much cheese. I would add more tomatoes, but maybe mine were smaller than normal. I think the tomatoes, cheese, basil etc sauce would be great as a bruschetta. We will not be making again.

First of all, can't beat how easy and quick this is. After reading the reviews, I decided that I wanted to pre-warm the tomato mixture a bit so that it did not cool down the pasta too much.  So rather than setting up the tomatoes, basil, etc in a bowl, I put it all in a pan, set on an extremly low simmer.  
More importantly for a recipe review - the taste.  My son who is not usually a fan of anything with fresh tomatoes commented on how tasty the combination is.  I had not doubted that all along - fresh tomato and basil is heaven to me - but the fact that it won him over was definitely a breakthrough.  My husband commented that he would be happy to have pasta this way all year round.

Delicious and easy! This is a great recipe to play with.  You can easily dress this up or dress this down and customize it as you see fit. I really like this recipe as is, but I love cheese and decided I needed more types in it so I cut the mozzarella in half and added in a bit of Asagio and Parmesan cheese. I also increased the amount of tomatoes because I had a bunch from the garden. Thanks for the great recipe.

I made this exactly as the recipe said and it was GREAT. All the flavors complemented wonderfully, and it was even better cold the next day. A warning, though--while one of the things I loved about it was all the garlic, it may be too garlicky for those who are not huge fans of it.

It is indeed the perfect summer pasta. Thanks for posting!

This is amazingly flavorful!  I had something similar at Wegman's that I've been trying to duplicate and this does it great!  I wouldn't change a thing!  Thank you so much Tony for a GREAT dinner!!!

Made with fresh tomatoes &amp; mozz, 1/2 garlic, and no garlic salt.  YUMMY!!

This pasta is delicious. I followed the recipe with the exception of leaving out the garlic salt and cutting the garlic back to 4 cloves (personal taste). Perfect light, refreshing pasta for summer. We love it and will make this often. Thanks for sharing!

Very good!  I used grape tomatoes (whole) and unfortunately not enough for my taste!  I marinated them in the mixture, added a splash of balsamic vinegar, and then sautéed them for about 2 minutes (I loved the taste of sautéed tomatoes!)  Definitely will make again.

I won't be making this again. I double checked and di indeed follow the recipe correctly.  It was bland, naked noodles with some melted chunks of mozzerlla throughout.

Fabulous quick, simple recipe. So fresh and just perfect for summer.  I used only half a pound of mozzarella but topped with plenty of shredded parmesan when served.

This is outstanding! We really loved this simple, light summer dish. Only two changes I made is I used 8 ounces, maybe a bit more, of small fresh mozzarella balls, halved,  instead of the shredded mozzarella. I also omitted the garlic salt, but did add sea salt to taste. I couldn't stop eating this, it's just so very fresh and delicious. I had the leftovers the next day for lunch and added a splash of balsamic vinegar, it's just like a caprese pasta salad. I will definitely make this often :)

This was the perfect summer dish. I only made half the recipe and substituted halved grape tomatoes for the plum tomatoes. I also had some extra chicken from the "Easy Chicken Gyro" recipe on this site that I shredded and tossed in. I only added two cloves of minced garlic (for the half recipe) because of the power of raw garlic and because the chicken I tossed in was already heavily seasoned. 

On the side I made some yummy pita toast:
--Slice desired number of pitas in half (yielding one layer of pita).
--Spread pitas on a foil covered baking sheet.
--Brush pitas with olive oil.
--Sprinkle pitas with ground black pepper, ground dried parsley, and parmesan cheese.
--Bake in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes or until crispy.

Thanks Tony and all for the suggestions!

I felt we were eating too much meat a week in my house so I decided to try this.  My husband was very skeptical, but he ended up liking it a lot. This is a great vegetation style dish.     I used cherry tomatoes, that I sliced in half, and only 4 cloves of garlic.  I also used a mixture of feta cheese and mozzarella cheese, (maily because I had a bit less than a half cup of feta cheese left, and nothing to do with it.  I think mozzarella would be fine with the dish, but the feta made it taste great!

Husband and I both loved this dish...definitely will add to the recipe box..thanks

Love this pasta! This is definitely a comfort food for me.

This recipe was amazing! So full of flavor. Used wheat pasta(thin spaghetti), fresh romas and basil from the garden. Used half of the mozzarella the recipe called for. Omitted the garlic salt and used sea salt instead. Great summer meal, quick and easy. Definitely a "keeper"

Excellent recipe but cut down on the garlic as this is too much. This was excellent served with chardonnay and ciabatta bread. Would definately make again, the family loved it.

Great Dinner! I made a few changes to this dish, but loved the results! Instead of mozzarella I used Parmesan, and instead of chopped tomatoes i sliced them, and arranged them on top of the pasta. Oh, and I added an extra clove of garlic. But we do love our garlic. :)

This basically sounds like a Caprese salad, but warm and with pasta in it. It's really good and easy to make, but I would recommend short-cut pasta instead of the linguine, it just blends together better with the other ingredients. I used fusilli and it turned out great. I would also add extra tomatoes next time.

This is a great easy meal!  I doubled the oil and balsamic vinegar because I felt it was a bit dry.  Really delicious!

I gave this 5 stars because both my daughter and husband loved it. They are so picky I was affraid they would turn thier noses up at it. I liked that it was so light yet overflowing with flavor. I used the left over tomato "topping" on baked garlc bread the following day as a snack and it was just as good.

This is so so so good.  I only added an 8 oz bag of finely shredded mozzarella instead of a lb but it was perfect for us.  Thanks for sharing!

This was absolutely delicious!  I decided to go ahead and saute my garlic for my family's taste.  So good!

We love this dish. Super easy, full of flavor. I started making it a couple years ago but tweaked it to make it even easier. I usually combine the olive oil and basil in my blender. I also add a jalapeno as we like a little "heat".  I serve it with crusty garlic bread and rarely have any left.

Thanks for sharing it.

I really enjoyed this dish! I altered it just a bit, as I wanted something warm, including the tomatoes. I used stewed tomatoes and made the mix minus the cheese and I heated it for about 5 minutes on the stove. I then added the tomatoe mix to my pasta and added mozzarella, parm and feta cheese to the top and it was excellent!

Loved this recipe, perfect for date night with my hubby. I can see adding chicken, shrimp or even fish for some protein. Perfect!

This recipe has become a regular at our house, especially when the tomatoes and fresh basil come from our own garden.  We feel that it would probabaly make an excellent cold salad as well, but we can't say that for a fact, because we never have anything left over!

I made it, and I didn't enjoy it. I am 100% that it tasted like it was supposed to, but it just wasn't for me. It was borderline inedible for me.

I LOVE this recipe!!! I serve it exactly as it is written and for dinner I serve it with the warm pasta and for a summer brunch I served it with cold tortelini or rotini pasta and added sliced cucumber (seeds removed)! Everyone loved it. Good job Tony.

I've been making this for years- call it my "raw" sauce. It's delicious and garlicky, so get ready to need some breath mints! It's almost like bruschetta but with pasta. Yum!

I used grape tomatoes and sauteed them in balsamic vinegar like a reviewer suggested and also cut back on the cheese. My husband and I both loved it and will definitely fix again!

I didn't tweak the recipe...I do think it is a good base, but will most certainly change a few things up next time....It's a great summer pasta

Mmmm so good! I had to improvise slightly due to lack of groceries. I used swiss cheese instead of mozza, added a  bit of cut up red pepper to add a little crunch and used spiral noodles. It was really good and I didn't even need the oil!

Great recipe, lends itself to modifications as needed. Easy to prep as a side to a main course.

i didn't have mozz in the house so i used romano. i also used stewed tomatoes from a can. it turned out pretty well considering... lol :]

YUMMM!  This was so good and so easy to make, no cooking required beyond the pasta.  I followed the recipe and chopped up the tomatoes as it says (the picture is not correct) and used vine rippened instead of roma.  I used less garlic as everyone suggested.  Served with ceasar salad and strawberries with bunt cake for dessert.  A great and easy summer meal.

Delicious meal for the summer, but I have to agree with most of the other modifications.  My hubby and I really cut back on the amount of garlic and cheese in this recipe or it would be overwhelming.  We also prefer grape tomatoes as someone else suggested.

Try this with sundried tomatoes and you will make this all year! A taste of summer anytime!

This was pretty good, and it made three meals for me. I think there's something missing from the recipe, with respect to the tomatoes. The recipe, by saying nothing otherwise, implies that the tomatoes are used whole. So I dished up my six platefuls with one tomato each, and sliced them up while eating. But I notice that the recipe summary at the top of the "Reviews" page mentions "chunks of tomato". So I think that maybe "chopped" was left out of the ingredient description.
The dish was very tasty fresh - I love garlic and basil and pasta. I could've done without the tomatoes, but that's just my personal preference. However, the dish didn't really reheat very well, I thought, so I'd recommend that it all be eaten right after making it. And maybe less olive oil could be used.

I followed this recipe exactly and it was amazing as it was, doesn't need anything extra or changed out.

Easy, light and delicious. Makes a great summer lunch or small summer supper. Letting the pasta provide the heat for he rest keeps the taste  of basil and garlic separate and makes it pop! 

Variation: We added some chopped grilled chicken and chopped Greek olives which added some protein and added pop from the olives. Am going to try a touch of apple cider vinegar next to give it a more "salady' taste.


This is stupid simple and will impress anyone!

Absolutely delicious!! A fresh amazing meal to pair with Shrimp or Chicken. But I definitely will use 1/3 cup of oil next time instead. It was a bit oily with the 1/2 cup. Still, definitely quick, EASY, and so SO delicious.

I really like the idea of this, and it was super easy, but the mozzarella made it too greasy for my taste. I'll make this again and use fresh Parmesan-Reggiano, and add more tomatoes and basil. Also, I used garlic-basil linguine, and it added a lot of flavor.

I am Italian and consider myself quite a good cook and this dish was wonderfully easy...and absolutly delicious. I did not change a thing. It is great as leftovers as well. Will make this over and over again. Tastes like you spent all day making it...when actually it took less than 45 minutes if that. Thank you for this great recipe!!!!!

Great simple dish that was a hit with the whole family

Very good!  Perfect light pasta dish for summer. I think next time I make it, I will add some sautéed zucchini...

Pay attention to the order and the ratio of ingredients.  When I followed the directions it was perfect, but when I added a little extra it didn't turn out nearly as well.  
I will make this with fresh tomatoes from my garden every summer.  It was so good! 

This was wonderful! I have now made this recipe 3 times in two weeks. I did follow the recipe only using a 1/3 cup fresh basil that's all I had on hand the 1st time. It was delightful and refreshing. So I have keep it that way. 2nd time, my husband requested me to make it again with the addition of shrimp and olives. It turned in to the whole meal with the additions and some Garlic French bread. The unexpected guests of the evening and hubby loved it. I can't tell you if it was good with the Shrimp or not I'm allergic so I'll have to take there word for it. But, the olives were yummy.  3rd time I made it I keep the olives and added seasoned and slice chicken breast. It was absolutely delish. This is a keeper. Thank You! Everyone here enjoyed appreciated the new recipe.

I really liked this but others weren't to impressed. Guess it just depends on the person.

This was so yummy! I used feta cheese instead of the mozzarella, and added more tomatoes. Absolutely delicious, and so easy to make.

I followed the recipe exactly this time.  Too much cheese! Next time I will add more tomatoes and basil, cut back on garlic, and split cheese in half. Has good potential.

My family loved this recipe.  The only change that I made to it was by adding some balsalmic vinegar.

Excellent basic recipe.  Will make again.

I loved this dish! I halved the recipe and used penne instead. The only thing I would do differently is use chunks/cubes of mozzarella- the shredded got a little gooey, but the taste was terrific! I also thought it was a bit oily- but that's easy to adjust.It was fast and easy. I will make this over and over again!

Absolutely amazing.  So easy and the flavour is out of this world.  One of my favourite recipes.

I thought this was absolutely wonderful as is when I tasted !Second time, To add a little more flavor and make a tad healther,I did cut the oil to 1/3 cup,added 1/2 cup red onion,and cut the mozz., to 8 ounces.I also used 3/4 tsp no salt with 1/4 teaspoon half salt.sauteed garlic and onion very lightly in the oil,made garlic less potent.also used dried basil instead of fresh - 1 tbls.,(didn't have fresh) This made it wow with very subtle changes. Will make this again and again ! thankyou for submitting.

Added chicken sautéed in butter and olive oil. Fantastic very tasty

I've made it twice and my husband and I liked it very much.  Frest tomatoes and green peppers from our garden made it especially  gppd.

I halved he recipe as I cook for one I didn't have Roma tomatoes so I used regular ones and heated them a bit to get rid of some of the juices because Roma tomatoes aren't very juicy. I didn't have fresh basil( too expensive) and used dried. I had some shredded cheddar, shaved provolone asiago and shaved Parmesan and used them and about half mozzarella.  The cheddar gave it a unique taste and I'll use it again about 1-1/2 oz.

Loved this recipe! Simple and quick! I did add a few more tomatoes and used only 4 cloves of garlic. I used zucchini noodles as the pasta. Will certainly make it again!

Came across this when I was looking for a simple, summer pasta dish. My husband, sister and I all enjoyed it. We used fresh basil from the garden, chunks of mozzarella, and actually added some salami that we sliced and sauted with the garlic, olive oil, garlic salt, basil and pepper first. While the pasta was cooking we let the olive oil mixture cool down a bit then added the cooked pasta after draining. We topped it with the mozzarella and tomatoes.....yummy.  Prosciutto and maybe olives would be good adds too....next time.

Ecellent -light summer meal. I reduced the evoo to 1/4 cup. Although the amount of cheese that the recipe calls for seems excessive do add all of it.

Good recipe but WAY TOO MUCH GARLIC!!!!! I suggest using less than half the garlic and less cheese. With those changes, the recipe is good.

This was a great recipe, but I changed a couple things, I used a little less chesse, I added just a little cooked Itailan sausage. I found that mine really wouldn't melt and the cheese all stuck together, so I heated it for a few minutes in the micorowave. I have made it twice and we loved it!

My family loved this summer pasta recipe. I will definitely make this again.

This was good but only used 4 garlic cloves! Still lots of garlicky taste! I would use more tomatoes next time &amp; maybe a different cheese!

Definitely a "keeper". Moderate change that I made: To avoid the further chance of the sauce mixture from cooling down the pasta, place the sauce in the bottom of the pasta bowl and then the hot pasta on top. Stir the sauce mixture up gently from the bottom. You can also modify/adapt this easy to make recipe with alternate cheeses that you may favor. We also tried this with Feta, and also with a blend of three Italian cheeses to lighten up the calories.

try it with spiral pasta and diced mozzarella chunks.  Also delicious if served cold.

I used regular tomatoes, cut up.  Garlic from a jar and not as much mozzarella.  Used a little garlic power to taste.  Just used what I had an hand.  It is so quick, easy &amp; good I will make it often when we have fresh tomatoes in our garden.

Great idea, however, way too much fat. I would recommend using less cheese and oil and using more basil and tomatoes.

It sounds really easy and delicious and I will definitely try it.  I will let you know how my husband likes it.

I love it. I cut back the cheese a little, but it's so easy and delicious!

Other than the basil no real flavor and dry

I didn't add the garlic salt or regular salt. It was delicious. I thought it would be overpowering but all the flavors went really really nicely together. Thank you for this new addition to my rotation!

It really is a pretty good summer recipe. I added mushrooms too, and it was great! Also only had dried basil instead of fresh basil, but that didn't seem to make a huge difference.

I make this recipe all the time. I like to add a little sauteed chicken, sausage and broccoli to it.... Depending what I have in the fridge.

Very oily, garlicky and not much other flavor.

I used only 2 cloves of garlic, and added a handful of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley and a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

I roasted the tomatoes with the garlic and  olive oil, and used dried basil and kosher salt. This made it very flavorful. I also tossed the pasta with 1/c. mozzarella and 1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese and topped the whole thing with fresh basil. It was super yummy!

This dish is fantastic.  It's very fresh and I will make it again and again.  I had pretty big cloves of garlic so I cut it down to 4 and added in some shrimp which was sauteed in a butter, wine, garlic sauce.  With the added garlic shrimp, it was a bit over-powering but I love garlic so it was fine with me!  I used fresh mozzarella cut into cubes and love how it melted throughout the pasta yet still had a few cubes partially intact.  Yummy!

tony's summer pasta

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total: 15 minutes

Servings: 6

Author : KDCG

Ingredients

Instructions

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