Spinach Linguine Tossed with Tomatoes & Fresh Basil

This is the first year for me to plant my tomatoes. As a gardener dummy, I think I have done pretty good job. Although I made a lot of mistakes, I enjoyed looking at the plant growing. Every time when I see how fast it grows, it reminds me that nature is effortless. I need to make sure that they are watered and get enough sunshine. By the end of the summer, I got more tomatoes than I expected. Instead of throwing or giving them away, I kept thinking of the ways to incorporate them into my daily meals. Here is one of them. Hope you enjoy your harvest as much as I do if you have your own garden. If not, give it a try next year.

Ingredient
½ LB Spinach Linguine
4 Cups Diced Vine Ripe Tomatoes
2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
Some fresh Basil Leaves (optional)

Seasoning
1 Pot of Water
1 ½ tsp Salt (divided)
1 tbsp Oil
¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet)
½ tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Butter

Bring 1 pot of water to a boil
Add 1tsp of salt, 1tbsp oil and linguine
Quick stir and let it cook
Cut cooking time to ¾
Strain pasta in colander

Preheat a deep skillet at medium high heat
Add extra virgin olive oil, butter and garlic in
Stir until butter melted and the oil is infused
Add tomatoes, ½ tsp of salt and black pepper
Toss to coat
Add linguine in
Keep tossing until the pasta absorb the juice of tomato and cooked to al dente
Garnish with fresh basil and serve

Serve 2 people

TIPS
Do not cook tomatoes too long. Otherwise, it will be too overcooked.

Spinach linguine is available in the Italian asile.