Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic, Tomato and Basil

Around the middle of July, I start accumulating tomatoes. I have been pulling Early Girls off the vine and eating any way I can - these tomatoes are spectacular. A beautiful red color, they are neither too big nor too seedy and have an amazing fresh tomato taste. I could eat them for days. Which is a good thing because I have about 15 tomatoes sitting in a row in my kitchen ready to be eaten. Here's a quick little recipe to use a few tomatoes and some basil to boot! One note, if you are using a tomato with more seeds than my Early Girl variety, you may want to seed the tomatoes when you take the skins off. Also, because I used angel hair pasta, I recommend getting all your ingredients together before putting the pasta in as it only takes a few minutes to cook. So get your pasta pot going with salted, boiling water before starting the sauce! Start another small pot of water boiling as well (this is for your tomatoes). This will feed 2-3 people.


1/2 pound angel hair pasta (or pasta of your choice)
4-5 tomatoes
1 clove garlic - minced (ok to mince with kosher salt)
1/3 cup basil leaves - rinsed and snipped with kitchen shears into smallish pieces
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
grated parmesan cheese (optional)


With a paring knife, take the top of the core of each tomato out and cut a small cross in the base . Boil each tomato for about 1 minute and then put in a bowl of cold water. This will loosen the skin. Remove the skin and chop the tomatoes into a large dice and set aside.

Heat 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan. Saute minced garlic for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until heated through.

Cook your angel hair pasta. Make sure to stir a few times to keep the strands separated. Drain and return to pot and mix with a few tbsp olive oil to keep the pasta a little separated. Stir in tomato mixture. Right before serving, stir in basil. Serve immediately, topped with grated parmesan if desired.