At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

A Frugal Summer Recipe…Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

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Some of you know Vanessa and I had these whole other blog lives before we combined forces and created At The Picket Fence.  But many of our newest friends may not realize that we maintained two separate blogs before we landed here. Vanessa’s leaned toward decorating and home décor.  Mine mainly food. We both loved our other blogs but felt constrained by our choices to focus on such specific genres.  Hence why we decided At The Picket Fence would cover a broad range of topics, idea, projects, and inspiration.
When I decided to essentially shut down Gourmet Meals for Less, I feared losing touch with my “foodie side” just a little, and I have focused much more on home improvement, DIY projects and the such.  BUT, that does not mean that I don’t still L.O.V.E. to cook and to photograph my dishes!  In the past I have had several of my food photographs featured at many of the top Food Po..n um well um.. we’ll avoid that word since the spam might come out in full force, so we’ll just call them “Food Photography Addiction Sites.” You can see my features at Tastespotting, Foodgawker and Dessert Stalking to name a few.  I always get such a thrill when I see one of my photographs featured among such amazing talent!
One of my first friends at Gourmet Meals for Less was Jodie from Eatin’ on the Cheap! She taught me you could create delicious inexpensive cooking and beautiful photography out of the same dish! Her recipes are fabulous and frugal…her photography is amazing! When I saw Jodie’s recipe for Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes I had to try it!
Jodie has a great feature she does where she uses some type of canned meat, mainly tuna, and shows that you can make the most yummiest dishes out of the humblest of foods.  This dish did not disappoint!
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I was able to make my own pesto from my fresh basil I keep by my back door and we roasted the first of our tomatoes.  Incorporating our own garden produce really cut down on the cost of this already inexpensive dish!

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes-Eatin’ On the Cheap

Serves 4


Ingredients:

2 cans tuna, drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 T olive oil
1 box ( 16 oz.) bowtie pasta
1 cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought
fresh black pepper
1 t. lemon zest
Parmesan cheese to serve


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Toss diced tomatoes with olive oil and roast until the tomatoes have softened, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions, drain.
Toss pasta with pesto, tuna, roasted tomatoes, lemon zest, and black pepper. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve!

bowtie-pesto-pasta
I’d love you to pay my friend Jodie a visit at Eatin’ On The Cheap! She has been a loyal friend of mine both at Gourmet Meals for Less and At The Picket Fence and besides…if you all are really nice to her maybe she’ll invite me down soon to her family’s fabulous winery in Tennessee! hint…hint Jodie…Winking smile 
Thank for cooking up some thing good with me…At The Picket Fence,

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Comments

  4. This recipe looks like a keeper. It’s not only economical and easy, but has layers of flavors (just a guess!).

    I grow basil and tomatoes and make pesto, but never roasted my tomatoes. Thanks for the idea. This could be supper tonight.

    Reply

  5. Wow–this looks really delicious. It’s hard to believe that something this lovely would qualify for “eating on the cheap.” Your food photos really ARE beautiful–I can see why they’d end up on food po_n sites!

    Reply

  6. Okay this sounds like the PERFECT summer~time dinner. Bookmarking now and can’t wait to try this! Have a great day!!!

    Reply

  12. It looks wonderful Heather!! Congrats on the features of your beautiful food photos too! 🙂

    Reply

  13. YUMMMMMMMY !! This dish looks absolutely delicious, refreshing and would easily be devoured in our home. I’m taking note … thanks for sharing !! xo

    Reply

  14. Heather, it looks delicious. One of my daughters is a tuna nut and would love this. I’m all about frugal meals and getting even MORE about them day by day. Yikes to the rising costs!

    Reply

  20. Yum! That looks so delicious and so simple too. I can see this is going to become a favourite go-to meal at our place!

    Best wishes,
    Natasha @ 5 Minutes Just for Me

    Reply

  21. This looks FABULOUS! I can’t believe you have ripe tomatoes already…I am so jealous but in the totally supportive and good way! 🙂 Your picture is super and makes me want to jump through the screen to take a bite!

    Thanks for linking up to Foodie Friday. I hope to see you again next week!!

    Reply

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