Tomato Basil Spaghetti

It's been quite a while since I last updated. Too much has happened and my head never spun around to cook a proper meal at home. First was the moving then came the unpacking, which is still in process (even after two weeks). The first place I organized was the kitchen, however, and I was able to make a delicious plate of spaghetti for lunch the other day.

It is a simple recipe that calls for tomatoes, basil, and grated parmesan. That's all it takes to make a light meal for summer. With the temperature high above 90s (or even higher in other cities) you really don't want a heavy meatball in your stomach while the heat weighs down on you.

I personally don't have much appetite in the summer. To me, comfort foods like mac-n-cheese and chicken soup are for colder days. All I want in the summer is fresh produce or lemony, vinegary, cold dishes; such as, stone fruit salad, lemon verbena ice cream, cold soba noodle, and sushi.

What you need for a light spaghetti meal is
4 tomatoes
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, diced
2 twigs of fresh basil or more/ 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
parmesan
salt & pepper

remove tomatoes' core
with a knife, make an X at the tip
boil a pot of water and bath tomatoes in boiling water for 8-10 seconds
remove tomato skin
chop up the tomatoes into 1/4 inch chunks
heat a skillet on medium heat with some olive oil and fry shallot and garlic till fragrant, 3-5 minutes
add the tomatoes into the skillet, season with dried or fresh basil, salt and pepper
stir occasionally and remove from heat after 15 minutes
while tomato is cooking, boil linguine as instructed on the package
drain noodle, keeping a few tablespoon of noodle water, mix noodle with tomato sauce
use a large fork and twirl the noodle into a huge lump, untwist onto a shallow bowl
sprinkle with parmesan and basil
enjoy!