Gluten-Free Almond-Tomato Pesto Pasta with Herb-Butter PACHA Toast

This sauce barely touches the stove. The almonds get a quick 60-second blanch so their skins slip off, and that's the only cooking the sauce needs — after that, everything blends together raw: sweet cherry tomatoes, blanched almonds, basil, and cheese, all whirred together while the pasta water comes up to a boil — and it comes together faster than the toast does. It's a Sicilian-inspired take on a raw, no-cook pesto, made without garlic. It's the kind of dinner that looks like it took more effort than it did, which is really the whole point of a good weeknight recipe.

PACHA makes gluten-free, vegan sourdough bread from just two ingredients — organic sprouted buckwheat and sea salt, with no gums, binders, or synthetic fillers. Each slice of the Buckwheat Sourdough Loaf has 2.3g of protein and 1.8g of fiber, made through a soaked, sprouted fermentation process with no added yeast. Pan-fried in butter until crisp, it holds its own alongside a saucy pasta dish instead of going soft or disappearing into the plate — a sturdy, gluten-free bread base for gluten-free families who still want something to mop up the sauce with.

Cherry tomatoes and basil are still going strong into early fall, especially if you can get your hands on the last of the season's sun-ripened batch — exactly what a blended raw sauce like this one depends on, since there's nothing simmering down to concentrate the flavor for you. Worth making this one while both are in season, though it holds up fine with good-quality tomatoes any time of year.