Eating like a single person

So tonight's my night to cook without worrying abut the husband's persnickety palette... usually happens once a week when he works late, but normally I stick with left-overs. When I got home tonight, I didn't particularly feel like the mediocre beet (pink!) soup I made the day before, and we'd grilled burgers two night in a row, thanks to the over-sized pack of hamburger buns we felt we should use up. I was feeling something meat-free.

I looked around my kitchen...and saw tomatoes everywhere! My 8 tomato plants out back are certainly keeping me in stock, plus I'm getting the most delicious heirlooms from the CSA box. I had some just-picked organic garlic and decided to go with my favorite "me" meal...spagetti with olive oil, chili flakes and garlic (tomatoes are only occasionally thrown into the mix). My basil and parsley plants got some use here too, as did some feta and pecorino romano cheeses I had in the fridge. Thus I present! A fabulous, late summer meal, made with the simplest of ingredients that let each flavour shine through in all their delicious glory!

Spagetti flecked with garlic, chili flakes & cherry tomatoes

Ingredients

Handful of spagetti

3 tbsp EVOO
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp (or to taste) dried chile flakes
24 cherry tomatoes, halved
Fresh basil, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
3 tbsp feta, crushed
Romano pecorino cheese (to taste)

Some direction

Salt and boil the water - cook spagetti.

When spagetti is a few minutes away from being done, heat olive oil, garlic and chile in small pan, stirring to prevent garlic from burning, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, stir to coat.

Reserve 1 tbsp spagetti water; drain the rest. Put cooked spagetti back in pot.

Toss with oil and tomato mixture; stir in reserved water, feta and herbs. Top with percorino romano and pepper, if desired, and serve!

I've made this in the dead of winter without tomatoes, when nary a decent-tasting tomato can be found. You could use canned, diced tomatoes, but it's tasty without them too!

Serves 2 (or 1 gluttonous single person)

Inspired by a recipe by my favorite cookbook author Nigella Lawson