Spring time pasta

I love to eat. My body might not look like it. I’m lucky, but food is one thing I don’t stop thinking about. Eating is a necessity, so I think people should make the most of it, and eat great food. I certainly try to as much as I can. Nothing puts me in a better mood then spending an evening, or any time, with my family and/or friends around a table, or kitchen, with some food and drinks talking.

One thing I love about food is that different seasons mean totally different dishes. Spring and fall are my favorite times. Great produce becomes available and can easily be cooked to produce simple dishes with amazing flavors.

Once spring comes, and the sun begins to shine, and evenings warm up enough to eat dinner outside on a patio, my favorite dish to prepare is Spaghetti Pomodorini (spaghetti with baby tomatoes).

My father taught me how to make this simple, yet flavorful, dish. It doesn’t require many ingredients. You probably already have most around your kitchen.

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic
Small tub of tomatoes (I like cherry or grape tomatoes)
Enough spaghetti for two
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Bread
Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt
Pepper

Optional:
Pepper flakes or spicy olive oil (how to make oil at home below)

How to make:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add spaghetti and cook for a few minutes less then the packages directions.
• Meanwhile, cut tomatoes in half and place them cut side down in a sauce pan with olive oil in it. Crush the cloves of garlic and toss in. Also, add some pepper flakes or a few drops of the spicy olive oil if desired. Heat the tomatoes and garlic on med heat, covered, for about 3-5 minutes.
• Take the lid off the tomatoes, and crush the tomatoes, while in the pan, so it becomes tomato skins with the juice and seeds as a sauce. Leave uncovered and let the tomato juices cook down.
• Take one ladle full of the water the pasta is cooking in, and add it to the pan with the tomatoes and garlic. Turn the heat on the tomato and water to high. (Mixing in the water brings some of the starch from the pasta into the sauce, and helps the sauce stick to the pasta better.)
• Remove crushed garlic cloves and discard.
  
• Remove the spaghetti from the water, and toss it in the pan with the sauce.
• Mix the spaghetti and sauce together on high in the pan for a minute or two, to finish cooking it.
• Serve in a bowl, and grate some Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese on top, and tear some basil leaves on top of the pasta.
• Serve, with a slice of bread, and enjoy with the beautiful weather that comes with spring time.

To make the spicy olive oil:
Put some diced Jamaican peppers, pepper flakes, and any other hot pepper in a small jar or container, cover with extra-virgin olive oil, and let it sit for a week. After a week, it is ready to use. Pour a few drops on some pasta, meats, pizza’s, but be careful, a few drops is usually enough.

This oil has been sitting on my counter for about six months now, and is the spiciest I have made. I generally add a new red Jamaican pepper once a month.

Bon Apetito!