Ziti with Fresh Tomato-Olive Sauce

This is a no-cook sauce that comes together in the time it takes to boil pasta.

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, fresh basil, kalamata olives, capers, and red pepper flakes get combined in a big serving bowl. Fresh tomatoes get halved and squeezed over a strainer right into the bowl so the juice goes in and the seeds stay out. The squeezed halves get chopped and tossed in too.

Hot ziti goes straight from the colander into the bowl, and the heat from the pasta is what wilts the basil and blooms the garlic just enough to soften its raw edge. Crumbled goat cheese melts into soft, tangy pockets against the warm pasta. A shower of Parmesan on top adds salt and depth.

Every component has a job: olives bring brine, capers bring pop, vinegar brings acid, pepper flakes bring heat. Nothing is filler.

Chef Tips

• Squeeze the tomato juice through a strainer. The seeds make the sauce bitter and gritty. You want the juice, not the seeds.
• Assemble the sauce in a bowl large enough to toss the pasta in. Moving hot pasta to a small bowl is a mess.
• Use the best tomatoes and olive oil you can find. With no cooking, you taste every ingredient directly.

Variations

• Swap goat cheese for burrata for a richer, creamier finish.
• Add a can of drained tuna for a heartier pantry-style meal.
• Use penne or rigatoni if you can’t find ziti. Any tube-shaped pasta catches the chunky sauce.