Pasta with goat cheese and spring vegetables  

Barrett was kind enough to post a link here a couple weeks back mentioning a pasta dish I prepared for him and his wife when they were visiting recently, and I've been meaning to post the recipe here. It's a simple dish that we were able to make entirely out of produce from the garden and our vegetable share, but which also recalls for me a memorable spring pasta dish my wife ordered at L'Etoile a couple years ago. As usual Barrett added some interesting elements that I'd like to try at some point -- make sure you check out his recipe here.

3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
3 large cippolini onions, sliced into thin wedges
3 large tomatoes, peeled, cored, and pulsed in the blender a bit
3 medium zucchini and/or summer squash, sliced into thin disks
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
4 oz fresh goat cheese
a few leaves of basil, shredded
red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste
olive oil
linguine or other pasta

1. After starting your pasta water, saute the vegetables. I do this fairly quickly with this dish because I don't want to lose too much of the crunch. For me the best order is garlic, onion, red bell pepper, zucchini.

2. Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, and simmer over medium heat. Depending on how watery your tomatoes are, it may take a while to reach an appropriately saucy consistency. When it does, start the pasta.

3. Add the goat cheese and combine with the sauce -- I use the flat side of a silicone spatula for this. It helps if you have a very creamy goat cheese. Add the shredded basil leaves and serve with pasta.