Dinner Tonight: Pasta with Corn, Arugula, and Tomatoes Recipe

When tomatoes are ripe and tender enough to eat like apples, I love to exploit them in a raw pasta sauce. Leave the mushy, bland ones behind—only the freshest, tastiest ones are good enough. Then all you have to do is chop them up, toss them in a big bowl, and season them like a salad. This recipe from Gourmet adds some corn, scallion, oil, and vinegar. This mixture, even without pasta, is good enough to eat as is.

But I couldn't leave it alone. I added some arugula for a nice bitter bite and used spaghetti instead of the recommended shaped pasta (since I had it on hand). The arugula really worked too, adding depth and a pleasing balance to the dish. It gently wilts underneath the hot pasta. I'm not quite as sure about the spaghetti. I think a shaped pasta like fusilli would probably work better, but it's hard to argue with these results. It's summer pasta at its absolute freshest.