Summer Spaghetti

I like pasta as much as the next person.  In fact my boyfriend loves the stuff and eats it all the time.  So when he looked through another Canal House cookbook, he spotted in volume 1, Stephan's Summer Spaghetti.  I thought, cool, this will be a quick easy meal.  I never thought that a simple pasta meal could be so infused with flavor that I am tempted to make it every week!  It definitely has inspired me to pull out my tomato and basil seeds to ensure that I have plenty of ingredients to make this pasta again and again when everything is blooming and growing.  Ever since I tasted this pasta I have been dreaming of eating it again.

This is a quick recipe, so I suggest that you complete all your chopping before you start the pasta boiling.

Stephan's Summer Spaghetti

1 pound spaghetti

Salt

1/2 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic

Great big bunch of basil, leaves chopped

6 tomatoes, halved, cored, squeezed of seed and juice, chopped

Pepper

1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water over high heat.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook until it softens and turn a little golden.  Remove the garlic and discard.  Add all the basil, then the tomatoes, and stir around until just heated through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When the pasta is about three-quarters cooked, drain out most of the water, leaving about 1/2 cup pasta cooking water in the pot.  Return the pot with the spaghetti to the heat.  Pour in all the tomatoes, oil, and basil lusciousness from the skillet and let it finish cooking for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the grated cheese.  Serve with a little more olive oil and more cheese.  (Note: I did not use an entire cup of the cheese as I wanted a more subtle flavor.  I did add a little more to the top before eating, but I wanted to be sure all the flavors would come through before adding more cheese.)