Categories: Salad, Pasta, Vegetarian 
      Yield: 8 servings 
  
  
  By The Associated Press For Labor Day, serve pasta with a no-cook 
  sauce. Made with a few simple in- gredients, including toma- toes, 
  blue cheese and fi-esh basil, the following recipe is both easy and 
  inexpensive to prepare. 
  :          Labor Day 
        Pasta Salad 
    12 dpe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), quartered, or 1 pint 
  cherry tomatoes, cut in halves 
    2 cups (lighty packed) whole  fresh basil leaves 
    2 ounces finely crumbled blue  cheese 
    2 tablespoons olive or veg- etable oil 
    2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar 
    Salt and pepper, to taste 
    1 pound penne, mostaccioli or   other medium-shaped pasta, 
  uncooked 
    Toss the tomatoes in a bowl with the basil leaves, blue cheese, oil 
  and vinegar.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate and 
  let marinate for 45 minutes to 24 hours. 
    Just before serving, cook the pasta according to package di- 
  rections; drain thoroughly. Transfer the pasta to a mixing bowl while 
  still warm. Add the to- mato mixture and toss to mix. Let stand at 
  room temperature about 15 minutes before serv- ing. 
    Note: Use the smallest leaves of the basil for this recipe. If the 
  leaves are longer than 1 inch, tear them in half crosswse be- fore 
  adding to the tomato mix- ture. 
   
    Option: Grill 8 to 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts. 
  Cool 5 minutes after cooking, then cut into thin strips. Toss chicken 
  while stil warm with the pasta salad. Serve im- mediately.