Facile Italian Cooking

'Facile' is Italian for easy and this recipe sure makes good use of this adjective.

Tomato Basil Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 box of angel hair pasta (whole grain opt.)
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 2 shallots, minced
• Basil, fresh (chopped) and dried
• A few dashes of cream (light or heavy depending on how calorie conscious you're feeling)

Fill a small/medium sauce pan with water and put over high heat. Make 2-4 slits on each of the tomatoes and when the water is boiling throw them in for about 3 minutes. When they are done take them out and run them under cold water for about 30 seconds. Peel off the skin and dice the tomatoes. Be sure to save the juice along with the diced pieces.

In another sauce pan boil water for the pasta and prepare according to directions on the box.

Slightly heat a shallow saute pan on the stove over low-medium heat. Add olive oil and shallots. Saute until translucent. Do NOT burn them at any time during the cooking process or else you will have to start all over again! Add some of the dried basil and continue to saute. Add the diced tomatoes, juice, and more dried basil. Saute for another few minutes and then add some fresh, chopped basil. Saute for another 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Add a few dashes of cream until the mixture is a pinkish-orange color.

Add the pasta a little bit at a time. When I was younger my mother always used to yell at me because i would make a whole box of pasta and then add it all to the cream-tomato mixture. There would be too much pasta and not enough sauce. You want to make sure you have a good ratio so that the sauce covers all of the pasta that you add in.

The key to this recipe is to add basil throughout the cooking process. I don't tell you how much to add because this is something you have to do at your own discretion. Each time you add the basil only add a few "shakes."  I don;t think you can ever have too much basil, but don't go over do it on my account.

For a more hearty meal add shrimp before you take the dish off of the stove. Make sure that the shrimp are touching the bottom of the pan. Cook until pink and then flip over. You do not want to keep them on either side for too long or else they will dry out...and no one likes dried out shrimp.