Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Grilled Chicken, and Bruschetta

Going to the University of Minnesota means gaining access to the nearly limitless resources that a large public institution has available. However, this a food blog, and I'm not talking about academics. I'm referring to the U's very own farmer's market, which inspired me to make this dish. As I viewed all of the delicious fresh produce on my way to class, there was one item that stood out: beautiful multi-colored cherry tomatoes. It was not the first time in recent months that this particular ingredient had provided me with inspiration, so I already knew exactly what to make. Earlier this summer while the cherry tomatoes were starting to turn ripe in my parents own garden, I came across a recipe for Michael Chiarello's Pasta Pomodorini and it turned out to be a winner. Since cooking for me is about experimentation I rarely follow a recipe exactly although admittedly I didn't stray too far on this one. It starts by just crushing the tomatoes in your hand. I recommend using a deep bowl and putting the tomato as deep into the bowl as possible because you WILL get tomato juice all over the kitchen. After that heat some olive oil in a pan and mince fresh basil and garlic. When the oil is hot add the basil and garlic and sautee just so the garlic softens a little. Then add the tomatoes and cook until quite a bit of the moisture evaporates and the tomato flavor is nice and concentrated. At this point while I was home I added some white wine to put a little moisture back into the sauce, but since I didn't have any at school I just added some of the water I cooked my pasta in. That's all that it takes to make the sauce. I added the noodles to the sauce, let it cook together for a minute or two, and served it. The dish looks like it's going to be really boring because the sauce doesn't appear to coat the noodles at all, but it ends up actually being very flavorful. I served it with some sliced chicken breasts that I grilled with basil and marjoram for flavor. I also put olive oil on a piece of ciabatta bread, grilled it, rubbed garlic on it, and served it with chopped tomatoes to which I added fresh chopped basil, salt, pepper, olive, and a little sugar.