Summer Spaghetti

This is a great light dinner. This is a good one for me to make when my husband is out of town, since he's not a big fan of tomatoes (and this is full of them), plus it can't be a real dinner for him since there's no meat, right?

This one comes from the Lion House International Recipes cookbook. Someone gave it to use for our wedding. I actually hadn't tried this recipe until my sister-in-law Haruka mentioned she really liked it. It's quick and easy, and delicious!

Summer Spaghetti

6 very ripe tomatoes
boiling water
1 package (16 oz.) spaghetti noodles (I prefer angel hair, but you can use whatever you like best)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. basil (I prefer this with fresh basil. I use more than 1 tsp. if I use fresh.)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. fresh snipped parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. olive oil

Dip tomatoes in boiling water for 15 seconds. Peel off skins while hot. Dice tomatoes, put them in a strainer, and place them over a bowl to drain. Allow to cool about 1 hour. (That's in the original recipe. I don't mind at all having skins on my tomatoes, and I like the fresh flavor of uncooked tomatoes, so I just dice the tomatoes while the pasta is cooking and skip the rest of this paragraph.)

Cook noodles in a large saucepan according to package directions, until just tender. Drain noodles and return to saucepan. Top with butter. Add salt, basil, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, and olive oil; blend well. Toss in tomatoes. (I heat and stir for just a minute to warm the tomatoes since I don't heat them ahead of time.) Serve immediately. Serves 8.