Tomatoes two ways with fussili linguini

It's summer, which since I moved back to the east coast, means fresh fruits and vegetables abound in a way that I'd almost forgotten. While in California you can buy beautiful peaches and enormous avocados every day of every month, in Philadelphia one is forced to have a slightly heightened awareness of the season's shifting.

I have begun walking to work in South Philadelphia through the Italian market, a small strip of stands and shops along 9th street that bustles, and where you can hear Italian, Vietnamese, and Spanish more often than English. In the summer months, it's also alive with color. On my way home from running a family health education class at a local church, a man selling baskets of vegetables caught my eye. When he told me that the entire basket of about 15 gorgeous, deep red tomatoes would cost $1.50, I couldn't resist.

And then I got home and had to figure out what do with 15 gorgeous deep red tomatoes.

Tomatoes Two Ways With Fussilli Linguini

Ingredients
Sliced tomatoes
Olive oil
Whole garlic cloves
Salt & pepper
Fresh herbs
Butter
Pasta

Oven-dried tomatoes
Heat oven to 250. Lay sliced tomatoes on a baking sheet with garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and any fresh herbs (I used some leftover rosemary). Bake for 1-2 hours.


Butter-seared tomatoes
Meanwhile, in a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add chopped tomatoes, garlic, and thyme-- saute until soft.



Pasta
Cook pasta according to packaging--the fresh pasta I bought from the Claudio's last week was definitely worth the extra money and time.


Serve with Parmesan or other Italian cheese