Here is a quick and easy summer time dinner or even a nice lunch. Very few ingredients but full of flavor, a little punch of lemon with a little heat from the chile I don’t think you can go wrong. Even if you don’t have the exact ingredients I used I am sure you can pull something similar together.
I planted some sunburst cherry tomatoes and I cannot wait for them to start popping. I am sure my husband can’t either. He tends to grab a handful when he gets home from work. He parks right near the gardens so the first few tomatoes I don’t even see, he eats them before coming into the house. I do get the report of how good there were though. You don’t need to add the sweet Italian sausage but it is a favorite of ours so I always have some on hand.
Spaghetti with lemon and cherry tomatoes
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 pints cherry tomatoes halve 1 pint of them
- 1 teaspoon habanero chili finely diced
- 2 lemons zested then juiced
- 1 pound dried pasta bucatini or thick spaghetti
- ⅓ cup Parmesan Reggiano grated can use Pecorino plus more for serving
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves roughly chopped plus more for serving
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves roughly chopped plus more for serving
- 2-3 links sweet Italian sausage optional - 1½" slices
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic. Cook until it is light brown, about 2 minutes, being careful not to burn it. Add all of the tomatoes and chile. Season generously with salt. Cook until the tomatoes begin to burst, 8-10 minutes. Stir in half the lemon zest and all of the lemon juice. Continue to cook until most of the tomatoes have burst and begun to break down, 3-5 minutes. Set them aside and cover to keep warm.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bucatini and cook according to the package directions until al dente
- Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the tomato mixture, grated cheese, and ½ cup of the pasta water to the pot and toss to combine. Add additional pasta water, as needed, to make a light sauce. Stir in the fresh herbs and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve warm with a sprinkle of fresh herbs, more grated cheese and some lemon zest
- If using sausage, slice 1 to 1½ inch pieces and sauté in a pan until browned and cooked through. Add on top and around the pasta once plated