Easy Tomato & Basil Pasta

I have been making this dish for years now and haven’t grown tired of it. I originally saw Jamie Oliver make this recipe on Oprah at least 6 years ago. I tried to find the original recipe on the Oprah show’s website but I came up empty handed. I love this pasta dish so much because it’s healthy, fresh, and oh so easy to make. I make the tomato mixture while the pasta is cooking and I always have enough time left over to set the table. I love that there’s not need to heat the tomato mixture because the heat from the pasta cooks it. Over the years I’ve made this dish with variations like adding in capers or artichoke hearts, and adding in Mozzarella instead of the Parmesan and it’s always turned out yummy.

All you need to make this dish.

 My mise en place. Don't the heirloom tomatoes look divine?!?

Easy Tomato & Basil Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 lb spaghetti or linguine
• 11-14 ounces of cherry, grape, or small heirloom tomatoes
• 2 handfuls of fresh marjoram and basil, leaves picked (you can leave out the marjoram if you’d like)
• 4 T of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• Splash of red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I like to use a vegetable peeler to make beautiful shards of Parmesan)

Directions:

• Cook the pasta until al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking halve the tomatoes, put them in a bowl and add the herbs, olive oil, garlic and vinegar.
• Season the tomato mixture to taste with salt and pepper, then squeeze the tomatoes until they are slightly mashed.
• Drain the pasta, and while it’s still steaming, mix in the tomato mixture.
• Top with parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings.