Bea's Welcome Home Pasta

Brian just had hip replacement surgery, and after just 2 nights in the hospital, he was ready to leave the hospital food and come back to my home cookin' I gave him a choice (like they did in the hospital) and he chose simple Pasta, in garlic oil, tossed with fresh tomatoes, garden-grown basil, and mozzarella.


Before you boil your pasta, prepare the other ingredients. I used Roma Tomatoes - from the grocery store, and Basil - picked fresh from the patio garden.



Slice the tomatoes into quarters, and remove the seeds and guts - you'll end up with just the tomato meat - without the unnecessary juice. Chop the basil. Set aside till the pasta is done.

Now cook that pasta - and we've covered this before, so there are no pictures.

Drain the cooked pasta; set aside; wipe dry the pasta pot and return it to the burner. Add a pat of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil and heat. Add 5 -6 cloves of chopped garlic, and I also added a teaspoon of

"Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning" - a combination of sea salt, mustard seed, black peppercorn, coriander, onion, garlic, paprika and chili pepper - all in a mini grinder so it's fresh ground when you dispense it.


After sautéing the garlic and seasonings, stir the pasta back into the pot, coating all the pasta with the garlic/oil sauce, but careful not to tear the pasta.

At this point, I continued the preparation in individual bowls. I knew I had much more pasta than we would consume in one sitting, and I wanted to keep the uneaten pasta “extra ingredient free” for later use.

I layered the pasta, shredded mozzarella, more pasta, and then topped with the fresh tomatoes and basil. VOILA! It was simple, light and delicious.

And as for that left over pasta? I served it the next day for lunch, cold, topped with chunks of a left over rotisserie chicken. It was delicious all over again!