Italian Inspired Pasta Salad

Super simple and even tastier.

Simply cut the tomatoes in half, toss them in the olive oil with garlic, fresh basil, and red pepper (chilli) flakes then let it sit.  The juices release from the tomatoes, the olive oil takes on some of that flavor and the garlic.

After a good while (namely a few hours), cook some pasta and stir it in.

In brief: Tomatoes, garlic, basil, chilli, pasta.

(5 ingredients if you don't count olive oil, salt and pepper, I rarely do).

I like to make posts interesting and if you wish to read more then scroll on..

I found this from Ina Garten when living in the US and it's a firm summer favourite.

We all get recipe inspiration from everywhere and I'm always happy to name sources of inspiration. In my case less garlic was used as I find it quite strong when raw.

Serves 4

Method:

Macerate 250g of halved small tomatoes with 1 clove of crushed minced garlic, 1/2 to 1 tsp of chilli flakes, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 8-10 fresh basil leaves (julienned if you feel like it) 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper.

Cover and leave for 4-6 hours.

Cook 400g of pasta (or between 350g and 500g).

We're good at this...toss everything together.

Garnish with extra basil and, if you aren't vegan, some parmesan cheese.