Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Tomato Basil Pasta

This pasta is cooked up in the length of time it takes to boil noodles (so like 20 minutes?) It is extremely easy and has very few ingredients. My kids love it, and it is a really fast, last-minute meal. Especially if you have a garden full of tomatoes and basil!
I started making it over a year ago based on a Jamie Oliver recipe, but it is quickly memorized and easily tweaked, and I'm not sure how much it resembles the original recipe now.




To Feed 4 (this recipe is really easily increased.)

1 carton cherry tomatoes
1 handful of basil, chopped
1 handful of freshly-grated parmesan
3-4 cloves garlic
butter and olive oil
1-3 tbls balsamic vinegar
noodles (I usually use and love bowtie noodles, but pictured here is linguine. It tastes good with everything, even broken up lasagna noodles!)

Start a large pot of salted water boiling, add the noodles, etc.

Meanwhile, Dice the garlic, and slice the cherry tomatos in half.
Sautee the garlic and tomatoes in a few tablespoons of olive oil and butter, combined (this makes everything taste dreamy.)

Splash in some vinegar, more or less depending on preference. This is what makes the meal so good, and I usually add 2-3 tbls. (I think. I mean, I don't measure, and neither should you. I will make you feel like a fancy chef if you don't measure.)

**Don't simmer your tomatoes and vinegar for a while to make it saucy.  I find it tastes best when it's cooked minimally. If your noodles aren't done yet, remove the tomato pan from heat and chop up your basil.

When the noodles are done, scoop them directly from the pot of water to the tomato pan. Don't pour in any of the starchy water that you boiled the noodles in, but as much as a quarter cup or so of water will probably come with your noodles, and that's okay. It will help the parmesan get a little saucy.
Pile the parmesan into your pot also, and toss everything a few times. Cook over medium heat for another few minutes, just to get everything combined.
Pull from the heat, and dump in all your basil.
Serve and enjoy.

**Another note: Unlike most herbs, the flavor of basil does not intensify with cooking or simmering, so add it at the very end after your pasta has been taken off the heat. I learned this the hard way.




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4 comments:

Unknown said...

Yumm! My favorite type of pasta! We use a similar recipe with eggplant. Nom nom nom

Lauren said...

This is such a pretty meal!

PS
I miss you. Let's get together soon.

Lee said...

This looks mouth watering good. Mmm mmm

Bethany G said...

Lol oops! That was not Lee .. that was me!