The Canal House's Mezzi Rigatoni with Tomatoes, Lots of Herbs, Hot Oil, and Mozzarella

All week long, Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton of The Canal House will be sharing their recipes from last year's Canal House Cooking, Volume 8: Pronto! And we're giving away a copy every day this week. Open up a bottle of Sangiovese and follow along to bring a little Italy into your home.

Today: Pasta with freshly-picked ingredients from the garden -- a simple, unadorned pleasure.

Imagine it's a sunny summer day. You're hungry, so you walk out into the garden, pick ripe tomatoes off the vine, cut a big handful of parsley, mint, basil, chives, maybe some rosemary and a little thyme, then head into the kitchen to make this simple pasta dish. The tomatoes are still warm from the sun, and your hands smell of licorice, pine, and mint. It's already a heady experience and you've only just begun. When you mix the herbs in a bowl with hot olive oil, their fragrance immediately fills the air and the tomatoes release their juices, mingling with the oily goodness in the bowl. The warm pasta goes in next, along with some tender fresh mozzarella, and in no time you've satisfied your hunger in a big way. Try it sometime.

Mezzi Rigatoni with Tomatoes, Lots of Herbs, Hot Oil, and Mozzarella

Serves 6

4 to 5 ripe tomatoes in season (about 2 pounds)
2 cups loosely packed, mixed fresh herbs such as basil, mint, parsley, and/or chives, chopped
3/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound mezzi rigatoni or other short, tubular pasta
Salt and pepper
1 pound fresh mozzarella, diced

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

We're giving away a copy of Canal House Cooking, Volume 8: Pronto! every day this week! To enter to win today's copy, tell us in the comments: What is your favorite summer pasta dish? We'll choose winners next Monday, July 28th.

Photo by The Canal House. Excerpted from the book Canal House Cooking, Volume 8: Pronto! by Christopher Hersheimer and Melissa Hamilton. Reprinted by permission of The Canal House. All rights reserved.