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