Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, main dish, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4servings
Ingredients
4Angel Hair Nests04108
¼CupExtra Virgin Olive Oil*
½CupCherry Tomatoes**
½Cup Parmesan Cheesegrated
Fresh BasilSmall bunch
1½TBSPDried Basil
Salt & Pepper
Instructions
Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Roughly chop about 1 Tbsp fresh basil.
Cut each nest of Angel Hair pasta into 2 equal halves. This makes the noodles shorter and easier to eat as a cold salad.
Cook Angel Hair Pasta according to directions: Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil, add pasta nests, and cook until internal temperature reaches 165° F or approx. 1 - 1½ minutes. Quickly cool under cold running water, drain and set aside.
Fold together the pasta, tomatoes, oil, fresh basil and dry basil. Finally, fold in the parmesan cheese with all ingredients and mix evenly.
Cover and refrigerate for best results.
Before serving, add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
*Some extra virgin olive oil can have a strong flavor. If necessary, you can cut the extra virgin olive oil with half EVOO and half plain olive oil.
**You can use cherry tomatoes but plum Roma tomatoes work well too.
This works great as a simple side salad or add chicken or grilled shrimp to make it more of a meal.
I suggest using both dry and fresh basil as they give off different flavor notes. While fresh basil gives a nice aroma and fresh flavor, the dry basil combined with the EVOO gives a rich deep basil flavor throughout the dish.
This is a very simple dish, feel free to experiment adding more or less cheese or other herbs to make it your own.