Olive Oil and Herb Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

There is a restaurant we like to visit when we make the trek to our closest Whole Foods (it's about 1.5 hours away). It's an Italian place with the best dipping oil for bread. Since this restaurant is so far away, it's not like we can just jump in the car and grab dinner there any ole time we like.

But a few days ago I had a craving for their dipping oil. So I decided to try and recreate it - in pasta form. This dish was a huge hit with my hubby (who requested that we have it for dinner every night this week... all 7 of them), and super easy. I served it with half a breaded chicken breast (because let's face it: the pasta is the star!).

Olive Oil and Herb Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes:

• 1/2 lb(ish) pasta of your choice - I recommend spaghetti type noodles
• 1 large tomato, chopped into bite size pieces
• 2-3 cloves fresh garlic
• basil
• Italian seasonings (oregano, rosemary, thyme... or one of those all-in-ones)
• coarse ground pepper (red or black - your choose)
• coarse salt
• 1/4 cup (more or less depending on your taste and the noodles) plus 1 Tbsp olive oil
• grated Parmesean (optional - leave out or grab some non dairy for vegan fare)

Now, this is truly an "Emily" recipe, meaning that if you are some one who is very precise, levels your cups of flour before you add them, and thrive off of very detailed step-by-step directions, you may want to stop reading now. This is not one of those recipes.

If you're serving with chicken (or any other type of meat), so ahead and get that in the oven first. While it is cooking, boil some water, add your noodles, and cook until desired firmness.

While noodles are boiling, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large, sided skillet on medium heat. Slice 1 clove of garlic and add to the oil. Use a garlic press to dice the remaining clove(s) of garlic and add them to the pan as well. Saute on medium 30 seconds to one minute.

By now your noodles are probably done. Drain the water from the noodles, and add the noodles to the pan with your cooked garlic. Now the fun begins.

Begin by adding some more olive oil to the pan with the garlic and noodles (I probably add somewhere between 1/8 cup and 1/4 cup to start). stir noodles to incorporate oil evenly. The rest of this is simply to your own taste. I add (ish) about 1 1/2 tsp each basil and Italian seasonings. I toss a pinch of pepper in (a tiny pinch if I'm using red pepper flakes), and probably about 3/4 tsp salt. Don't be scared of the salt. While you don't want your noodles to taste like Lays potato chips, the salt does wonders for rounding out the flavor of the pasta and seasonings. Because we didn't have any vegans joining us for dinner, I added about 1/8 cup of a grated romano/parmesean cheese blend. And I stop to taste test to see if I want to add any more of the aforementioned ingredients (I do love basil!).

At this point, you may notice that your noodles are getting a little clumpy. That's more than likely because the noodles/seasonings have begun soaking up the olive oil. Add some more, a splash at a time until you receive your desired taste. Watch the bottom of the pan. If there is oil pooling in the bottom, you probably just need to stir your noodles better to incorporate. Adding too much oil results in greasy noodles.

You can cover the pan and let sit (on very low heat) until your meat is done. Add the tomatoes about 5-10 minutes before serving so they warm through but don't turn to mush. Enjoy!