This tomato pesto pasta salad is the perfect recipe for very ripe in season tomatoes.

Seasonal Ingredient Collaboration

It’s that time of the year again where a bunch of my fellow foodie friends all make a dish based on one seasonal ingredient.  This late summer the pick is tomato!  I actually just started growing tomatoes in my backyard this summer and I have to say, it’s life changing.  They are very sweet, so I didn’t want to cook them.  This Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad is the perfect vehicle for just picked tomatoes.

Makings of a Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad

I have to say late summer at the farmers market offers the widest variety of greens, herbs, fruit and vegetables.  It has a mix of what is slowly tapering off and what will be the bounty for fall.

For the pesto I used this recipe as a guide and replaced the greens with basil and used walnuts for the nuts. I coated some grain free spaghetti in the pesto sauce, but you can use any kind of pasta shape you want.

To serve I placed some dandelion greens on the bottom of a big platter and placed the pesto noodles on top and then scattered around some cucumber cubes, cut tomatoes, capers, parsley and some vegan truffle cheese.

It makes for a very vibrant and healthy, hearty dish.  You can have it just on it’s own or with your choice of protein.

It’s so different eating food that you actually saw grow right before your eyes.  It also helps my toddler connect the dots on food.  She helped picked these in the garden for my dish.  She still didn’t eat it though.

For my other seasonal recipes you can have a look at Rose Poached Apples with Rosewater Reduction, Turkish Yogurt Carrot Dip, Apple Cider Rose Poached Strawberries.

Also don’t forget to have a browse at by checking out this hashtag on Instagram:  #wesaytomatoes

Thank you again to What Annie Is Eating and Square Meal Round Table for hosting and rounding us all up.