Pasta Ponza from Giada – An Easy, Light Pasta Dish, Perfect for Summer

Today is a busy day.  I’m taking Ken out of school early so we can see our school pyramid’s art show; one of his drawings was selected.  I also want him to see what kinds of high school art classes are available at our local high school since that is his passion.  Later this evening we are attending his string orchestra concert at his school.  As I said, busy day, so I needed an easy meal that didn’t need much fuss.  I remembered a favorite summer dish from Giada – Pasta Ponza!

I first had this dish at my sister Tina’s house.  I remember she was nervous about how it would come out; it’s a pasta dish with a sauce made from baked tomatoes and bread crumbs, plus a little pasta water as needed.  No need for her worry– it was fantastic!  The juices from the cherry tomatoes and the bread crumb topping came together as a flavorful binder for the pasta.  Grated parmigiano and chopped flat leaf parsley round out the flavors.  I loved how fresh and light this dish tasted, and unlike a baked pasta it’s not loaded with tomato sauce, cheese and meat!

I think it’s a perfect summer meal; the original recipe from Giada is here.  Although it’s still early in the season for tomatoes, store-bought cherry tomatoes are usually pretty good year-round.  Most groceries now sell a combination pack of red, yellow and orange cherry tomatoes that are wonderful in this dish, but any combination (even just reds on their own) will work.  The remaining ingredients are items most families have in their pantry:  pasta, Italian bread crumbs, etc.  Since I personally do not care for the sheep milk taste of Pecorino-Romano, I substitute Parmigiano.

So much color and flavor!

Pasta Ponza (from Giada)

Dressed with a little oil, S&P and capers!

Make sure to use crumbs with Italian seasoning– you’re making the sauce for the pasta here!

The oil helps to brown the crumbs as well as add flavor

This is your sauce

See, it looks like a baked pasta! Add pasta water if you want a looser sauce

Yep, that’s 1 1/4 cups of real Parm…

Summer on a plate!