(photo by Jenn Harris)

I was really trying to find something red to feature in my column for this week.  I thought 'Valentines Day, red, perfect.' Then I remembered I hated Valentines Day and wanted to be a little anti, so in protest, I'm still celebrating the tomato, just not the pretty red ones. I'm celebrating heirloom cherry tomatoes in any color but red. That leaves me with yellow, purple, orange and green.

Heirloom tomatoes are kind of the ugly second cousins of the tomato family but they are by far the most delicious. The tomatoes look old, grow in odd shapes and usually have weird lumps sticking out of them.  Completely deceiving little things, they are actually amazingly sweet. They are also good in any dish you'd put a boring, pretty, red tomato in.

When I was at the farmers market this Saturday I bought an entire package of heirloom cherry tomatoes for $3.00 and decided I'd put my little ugly ducklings in two dishes: a simple pasta and a tomato and basil salad. By using fresh, flavorful ingredients that stand on their own, I was able to make each dish by using just five ingredients or less.

For the pasta, I used the tomatoes, really good olive oil (Monini Fruttato extra virgin olive oil), angel hair pasta, fresh basil, and salt. The sweetness of the tomatoes mixed with the richness of the olive oil and the minty basil is simply divine. You can whip this pasta dish up in literally less than 10 minutes.  As for the tomato salad, it's equally simple. Sliced tomatoes are tossed with the same good olive oil, fresh basil and some nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Unbelievably simple, rustic and full of flavor.

Ugly Duckling Tomato Pasta

Serves 2

1/4 lb angel hair pasta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh basil chopped
1 pinch of salt
8 small heirloom cherry tomatoes

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions on the box. For al dente pasta, cook 1 minute less. Dice each tomato in half. In a pan, toss the tomatoes with 1 tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and add the salt, pasta and the fresh basil and toss. Put in a bowl and drizzle with the remaining olive oil before serving.

Tomato and Basil Salad
Serves 2

10 small heirloom cherry tomatoes diced in half
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh basil chopped
1 pinch of salt
As much Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese as you want! I recommend a couple large chunks.

Directions:

Nothing fancy. Just mix everything together and eat it!