Tomato, Garlic and Basil Pasta

I made this quick pasta dish for lunch today.

Here's how:

The main ingredients - 1 lb. Tomato, 1 head of Garlic and about a cup of Basil

Lightly press the garlic with the knife - don't crush. Just press it enough to make it easy to peel them. Then slice the garlic into small pieces.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package instructions. Add salt and olive oil in boiling water. Thin pasta works best like spaghetti and angel hair. But I love linguine so I used it here. I used about 600g of linguine here. If the instruction says 11 minutes, cook no longer than 11 minutes. 10 minutes would be better since the pasta will still be tossed with the sauce later.

When cooked, drain pasta and set aside.

Make an X on one end of the tomatoes. That will make it easy to peel later.

Drop in boiling water and let sit for 30-45 seconds. Do not overcook!!! It will be difficult to peel and seed if they're overcooked.

Then transfer to an ice bath (a bowl of cold water with ice).

It is then easy to peel the tomatoes.

Slice in quarters (or half if the tomatoes are small).

Then take out the seeds. Set aside.

Meanwhile, roughly tear the basil leaves. This will bring out the flavor and aroma very subtly.

Here are all the ingredients. I added half a cup of grated parmesan cheese, half a cup of shaved parmesan cheese (I used a peeler for this), 1/4 cup of chopped parsley (optional) and 2 small pieces of hot chili peppers (they are small but very deadly hot!).

Saute garlic and chili peppers in olive oil until almost golden. (Next time, I'll use 2 heads of garlic - the more the better!)

Then add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, grated parmesan cheese and the pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with more olive oil if too dry. Top with shaved parmesan cheese. Add a sprig of fresh basil for garnish.