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From the author: This Simple Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil recipe is quick and easy and all that, and it tastes good to boot – cold or hot. Eat it for dinner. Eat it as a side salad. Take it on a picnic or a potluck. Everyone will thank you!
From Plant-Based on a Budget: There’s something special about a simple pasta recipe. We get to truly appreciate it just like the Italians intended it to be appreciated, in all its glory. You can taste the flavors, the texture and have the full eating pasta experience. This Simple Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil is one of those treasured minimalist plant-based recipes we adore. Ready to dive into this sensorial food experience? Let’s go!
Get ready to try the simplest and most classic way to enjoy pasta! You can add any seasonal fresh veggies you want to use up and turn it into a multicolor pasta dish!
Ingredients
Scale
½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¾ teaspoon of salt
1 small basket of cherry tomatoes
1 pound of pasta
½ cup of chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
In a standard bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, and salt and mix thoroughly.
Chop 1 cup of tomatoes and add them to the bowl. Cut the rest of the tomatoes into halves and add to the bowl and mix.
Let this mixture sit for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package instructions. When draining the pasta, reserve a ½ cup of the pasta water.
Mix the pasta with the tomato mixture and stir. Add in the basil and a little of the pasta water if you’d like the mixture to be a little softer.
Add salt and pepper to taste, garnish with more basil if desired. Serve hot or cold.
Where do we begin? So many fantastic shapes to choose from! When it comes to basic and minimal ingredients recipes like this one, we prefer either spaghetti or fettuccine. Maybe it has something to do with the beautiful way it presents, but also the fact that it allows for the flavors to be really soaked up.
As always, you can take it from here and try any pasta shape you love! From shells, penne, spirals to macaroni, go wild and try it with all of them if you’re feeling experimental.
Quality Olive Oil
Let’s talk about olive oil. Not all are made equal. The best quality is always extra virgin since it means it has been obtained from the very first press of the olives. Because of the simplicity of this pasta recipe, the quality of the olive oil we use will have a big impact on the outcome of the final product.
Long gone are the days when good quality extra virgin olive oil was an expensive luxury, nowadays we can buy really amazing olive oil without breaking the bank. Make sure you check places like Costco where they sell by the gallon, it will last you months!
Jake switched to a plant based diet in 1996 and quickly realized he had no idea how to cook. All these years later and he's still trying to figure it out...
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