Still pretending it's summer: pasta with fresh tomatoes, green beans and herbs

This pasta dish was made to celebrate the unseasonably warm weather, and the fact that I found some vine tomatoes really cheaply in the shops.

Very soon there won't be enough sunshine for even imported tomatoes to taste of anything much, and I'll stop buying fresh tomatoes for a few months. But for now, here's a quick pasta dish that is equally good hot, or cold as a pasta salad.

You can make this in the time it takes to cook the pasta - who needs ready meals?

I don't use dill that often, but on this occasion I had some leftover from another recipe. It goes well with lots of things: tomatoes, green beans and chick peas, and it adds a lovely summery flavour here. But if you don't have any, you could use a little extra parsley, or use basil instead.

Ingredients 

Serves four

250g dried penne or other short pasta of your choice
3 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
200g whole green beans, fresh or frozen (topped and tailed if fresh).
1 tin chick peas
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp dill, chopped
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

Method

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Five minutes before the end of cooking time, add the green beans to the pasta water, then re-cover to continue cooking.

Drain the pasta and stir in the tomatoes, drained chick peas, olive oil, lemon and herbs. Season with plenty of black pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning, or add a little more oil or lemon if you think it needs it. Garnish with a few sprigs of dill or parsley to serve.