We tried 2 easy pasta recipes from celebrity chefs, and they’re both perfect for summer

Our reporters made Ina Garten’s pasta dish (left) and Samin Nosrat’s recipe (right) and said both are perfect for summer. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider and Rachel Askinasi/Insider These two pasta dishes from Ina Garten and Samin Nosrat should be on your summer menu.   Ina Garten’s summer garden pasta is one of the best “Barefoot Contessa” recipes we’ve ever made.

  And Samin Nosrat’s “tomato candy” pasta has Michelle Obama’s stamp of approval.   Summer is here and tomato season is back, which means it’s the perfect time to make these two very delicious pastas. Authors Anneta Konstantinides (left) and Rachel Askinasi (right).

Anneta Konstantinides/Insider and Rachel Askinasi/InsiderInsider’s food reporters Anneta Konstantinides and Rachel Askinasi both love making pasta. And when temperatures rise and summer hits, it’s these recipes from Ina Garten and Samin Nosrat that they love sharing with family and friends. Both of the pastas have a unique twist that amplifies the flavor of the tomatoes.

Better yet? They only need a few simple ingredients and are super easy to make.  The summer garden pasta is a “Barefoot Contessa” favorite, while Nosrat’s pasta has Michelle Obama’s endorsement. Samin Nosrat (left) and Ina Garten (right).

Courtesy of Smeeta Mahanti and Noam Galai/Contributor/Getty ImagesGarten has shared dozens of pasta recipes (Anneta has made nine of them). But last year Garten revealed that the summer garden pasta was her absolute favorite. Rachel discovered Nosrat’s recipe while watching “Waffles + Mochi,” a children’s show on Netflix produced by Michelle and Barack Obama.

Nosrat was featured in the very first episode, in which she taught the show’s namesake characters how to make her easy pasta.  Garten’s summer garden pasta only needs a few simple ingredients. Garten’s summer garden pasta includes tomato, basil, and Parmesan cheese.

Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderTo whip up her delicious dish for six, you’ll need: 1 pound angel hair pasta4 pints cherry tomatoes1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving)18 large basil leaves (plus extra for serving)6 cloves garlic ½ teaspoon red pepper flakesYou’ll also need “good” olive oil, a description that Garten explains on her “Barefoot Contessa” website.  “By ‘good’ olive oil I mean buy the best oil that your budget allows,” she writes. “It certainly doesn’t need to be the most expensive! I use Olio Santo olive oil from California because it’s flavorful, fruity, and not heavy.

“First, Anneta prepped her tomatoes and herbs. Anneta’s prep took less than five minutes. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderShe halved the cherry tomatoes, julienned the basil leaves, and minced the garlic.

 Anneta then threw everything into a bowl with olive oil. Anneta marinated the tomatoes in olive oil for four hours. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderShe added the cherry tomatoes, garlic, and basil first, then sprinkled everything with salt (Garten recommends 1 teaspoon), the red pepper flakes, and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.

 Anneta then added half a cup of olive oil and covered the bowl with plastic wrap. Since the bowl needs to stay at room temperature, she let it sit for four hours on the kitchen counter. Once the tomato mixture was ready, Anneta started cooking her angel hair pasta.

The angel hair pasta was ready in just five minutes. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderShe brought a large pot of water to a boil, adding a splash of olive oil and two tablespoons of salt.  Then she threw in the pasta, making sure to keep an eye on it.

Since angel hair is so thin, it cooks much faster than most types of pasta. After just five minutes, the angel hair was perfectly al dente.  Anneta drained the pasta and threw it into a bowl with the tomato mixture.

She added the Parmesan cheese and some extra basil before tossing everything together.  Garten’s summer garden pasta is one of the best “Barefoot Contessa” recipes that Anneta has ever made. The summer garden pasta is one of Anneta’s favorite recipes.

Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderFrom pasta and cocktails to corn bread and dessert, Anneta has made dozens of Garten’s recipes. But the summer garden pasta is easily one of her favorites.  First, there’s the incredible smell, which reminded Anneta of fresh bruschetta.

And the tomatoes were truly out of this world. Marinating them for four hours injected the tomatoes with a rich flavor that was unforgettable. They paired perfectly with the fluffy angel hair, which kept the pasta deliciously light — exactly what you want in the summertime.

 Anneta has always favored heavy red-sauce pastas, but this recipe showed her that you can get tons of flavor from just a few ingredients. Plus, Garten’s summer garden pasta is so easy to put together. It’s a recipe Anneta recommends to just about everyone since it’s simple and vegetarian-friendly.

 Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s summer garden pasta here. Nosrat’s recipe for pasta with tomato candy calls for seven ingredients including salt. In addition to the above ingredients, you’ll need olive oil.

Rachel Askinasi/InsiderTo pull off this recipe, you need the following: 1 pound (450 grams) of short pasta (penne, farfalle, rigatoni, or orecchiette will work)2 pints (800 grams) cherry tomatoes, stems removed¼ cup (60 milliliters) extra virgin olive oil½ teaspoon sugarFine sea salt3 ounces (85 grams) freshly grated Parmesan, to yield about 1 cup grated16 fresh basil leavesFor the cheese, Nosrat says to try and get Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy because “it’s extra delicious!” If you can’t find it, or you’re simply not a fan, the chef suggests swapping it out for Asiago, Pecorino-Romano, Ricotta Salata, sheep milk feta, or dollops of fresh ricotta. The first thing Rachel did was start to candy her tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes before being roasted.

Rachel Askinasi/InsiderThe “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” host says to line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set up an oven rack in the middle position.  Separately, Rachel followed instructions to toss the tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Then, she added the sugar and half a teaspoon of the salt before gently tossing again.

 She arranged the tomatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer, popped them into the oven — which she had preheated to 225 degrees Fahrenheit — and set the timer for five hours.  Check on the tomatoes every 30 minutes or so, Nosrat says, to rotate the pan, ensuring an even cook, and to make sure the tomatoes don’t stick. These stay in the oven until they look semi-dried and shriveled, and until they start to taste like candy, which will be around the five-hour mark.

After the tomatoes are candied, they should look shriveled but still colorful. Candied cherry tomatoes after roasting for five hours. Rachel Askinasi/InsiderWhen it comes to this dish, Rachel thought the patience really did pay off.

She said the candied tomatoes were bitter, acidic, and sweet, and they made the glands in the back of her jaw tingle. She described them as sticky in some places and bursting with juice in others. And while she did say they were tasty, Rachel would recommend pulling them out of the oven a touch earlier than she did as some were almost completely dried out.

The ones that were perfectly candied, in her opinion, had the flavor of sun-dried tomatoes with the texture of roasted ones.  Once the tomatoes are cooked, the rest of the preparation is quick and seamless. Assembling this dish is easy, Rachel said.

Rachel Askinasi/InsiderFor her dish, Rachel chose to use farfalle pasta. She cooked it in extremely salty water, per Nosrat’s instructions. As the pasta was cooking for around six minutes, Rachel grated her cheese and tore up the fresh basil leaves by hand.

 Once the pasta was cooked to al-dente, she combined it with the cheese, tomatoes, and olive oil. Nosrat recommends adding the basil in last.  In doing so, Rachel found this is an important note that will help keep the herb fresh instead of wilting under the heat of the pasta.

 Rachel also found it helpful to only briefly drain the pasta, leaving in a bit of the starchy cooking water. She said the water helped the cheese adhere to all the nooks and crannies of each bow-tie-shaped noodle. Rachel thought this dish had perfectly-balanced flavors and was extremely easy to pull off.

Samin Nosrat’s pasta with tomato candy. Rachel Askinasi/InsiderRachel said she added the torn basil right before she took her first bite, and suggests anyone else making this at home do the same. She said it tasted fresh, light, and perfectly salty, and the fragrant basil leaves balanced out the intense flavors coming from the tomato candy.

One key part of this dish came from the feather-like shavings of cheese, which Rachel said didn’t weigh this dish down the same way melted mozzarella would have. There are several components of this dish that make it perfect for meal prepping or serving at a dinner party. You can batch-prepare this meal by cooking the tomatoes ahead of time and setting the basil aside until you’re ready to serve.

 Regardless of how many portions you’re cooking up (this recipe serves four as-is), Rachel says she’d recommend making extra tomato candy as it would go well with loads of other dishes. To preserve the tomato candy, Nosrat recommends submerging them in a jar of olive oil for up to six weeks. For longer-term storage, you can also freeze the candy first in a single layer on a baking sheet, and then transfer it to a freezer bag once frozen through, where it’ll keep for up to six months.

 Get the full recipe for Samin Nosrat’s pasta with cherry tomato “candy” here. Read the original article on Insider.