Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti

It is all about bright, fresh and light dishes in this heat! I also don’t want to spend much time over a hot stove, so the quicker, the better. This delectable spaghetti dinner fits that bill to perfection. It hardly took any prep, uses glorious summer tomatoes and basil, and is on the table in 30 minutes!

All of this gorgeous produce became the base for such a wonderful sauce. Heirloom tomatoes have more flavor than regular tomatoes and I just love seeing them readily available at my farm market nowadays. I also always have a head of roasted garlic at the ready to whip up sauces like these. Then I just have to lightly mash the cloves instead of chopping them.
Once I heated that produce, I just added lemon juice and seasoned it to taste. Then everything simmered for about 15 minutes. The tomatoes broke down beautifully and all of the flavors melded together into such a fragrant sauce.
Before I drained my cooked spaghetti, I added some of the pasta cooking water and parmesan cheese into the pot of sauce before I tossed in the spaghetti. Everything emulsified together and it was lovely. That was all there was to it! It took less than 30 minutes.

I just loved how fresh it all tasted using the seasonal produce. Have I mentioned how much I adore the smell of fresh basil?? Give me a bunch of basil over a bouquet of flowers any day of the week. It tied the whole dish together. Hope you all love this simple, summer staple as much as we did! xoxo

Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti
Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti
5 from 1 vote
Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti
Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
 

This is such a light and incredible pasta dinner using summer's gorgous bounty, and on the table in 30 minutes!

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti, Pasta
Servings: 6
Calories: 272 kcal
Author: Jeanie and Lulu’s Kitchen
Ingredients
  • 1 dash olive oil
  • 3 large heirloom tomatoes diced into small chunks
  • 6 cloves roasted garlic mashed *make ahead. see note
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 pinches salt
  • 2 pinches crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 pound spaghetti
Instructions
  1. First, get a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Then, get out a sturdy second pot and heat the olive oil in it over medium high heat. Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, and basil in to let them start to get fragrant for a couple of minutes. Then pour in the lemon juice. Season the sauce to taste with the salt and crushed red pepper. Let it gently simmer the sauce for 15 minutes on medium. In the meantime, salt the boiling pasta water until it tastes like the sea. Cook the pasta in it until tender, for about 8 minutes. Before you drain it, reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy, salty cooking water and add it to the sauce, along with the parmesan. Finally, toss the drained spaghetti into the pot and stir it all together thoroughly. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*to roast garlic, pre-heat the oven to 400. Remove the outer paper layers of a head of garlic and cut the top tip off to reveal the cloves inside. Dizzle the top with a little olive oil, then wrap it in foil and roast it in the oven for an hour. Perfection, it has so many uses! It can be stored in the refrigerator for weeks, I made it a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving cooking and used it in all of my recipes.

Nutrition Facts
Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti
Amount Per Serving (1 bowl)
Calories 272 Calories from Fat 37
% Daily Value*
Fat 4.1g6%
Saturated Fat 1.8g11%
Cholesterol 62mg21%
Sodium 148mg6%
Potassium 321mg9%
Carbohydrates 45.2g15%
Fiber 0.9g4%
Sugar 2.1g2%
Protein 12.1g24%
Calcium 106mg11%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

4 thoughts on “Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Lemon Spaghetti”

  1. 5 stars
    Liked this spaghetti recipe. Simple and delicious. Perfect to do for lunch without much time. Thanks.

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5 from 1 vote