This is a fun recipe that is not only delicious and easy to throw together, but celebrates the enthusiasm surrounding the summer’s tennis events and athletes. Use your judgment and desires to direct you as to amounts of ingredients—and don’t be afraid to experiment.

The racchette pasta is shaped like little tennis racquets (a very charming aspect of this kind of pasta), however the bow tie pasta needs to be cut in half horizontally in order to resemble the shape of tennis skirts. The slices of bacon can be considered the tennis net and, of course, the green peas make perfect little tennis balls. Sometimes I add cauliflower as a champion’s bouquet to this mix.

Ingredients

Racchette pasta
Bow tie pasta
Olive oil
Garlic, crushed
White onion, diced
Bacon
Green peas
Black olives, sliced
Salt & Pepper

1. Begin by cooking both pastas in boiling water. When they are cooked and drained, slice the bow ties in half horizontally with a knife or scissors (to make tennis skirts).

2. While the pasta cooks, sauté diced onion and crushed garlic with oil in a saucepan. Crisp slices of bacon in the pan and add peas and sliced black olives. When everything is cooked mix it all together with the pastas in a tournament of triumph and defeat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mark Golamco is a painter that lives in New York. He studied art at UCLA and RISD and has had several exhibitions in Los Angeles as well as the East Coast. You can see Mark’s  work at his website.