Fresh Tomato Basil Spaghettini

This recipe is from the now closed Palomino Restaurant in Minneapolis that I clipped out of the newspaper year and years ago. Of course, I have adapted it a bit over the years...but not too much because it's really good.

16 oz. spaghettini
1/4 c olive oil
4 t minced garlic
3/4 t kosher salt
3/4 t pepper
2 T sliced, drained sun dried tomatoes (or a little more)
1 medium tomato, cored, seeded, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1/2 c white wine
1/2 c chicken broth
2 small bunches of fresh basil, shredded, divided
2 T. chilled butter
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
2 T toasted pine nuts

Cook spaghettini for 2 minutes in boiling water until partially done; drain. Set aside. Heat saute pan over med high heat. Add oil and garlic and saute garlic about 1 minute but do not brown. Mix salt and pepper, dried and fresh tomatoes and add to garlic tossing to combine. Add wine and chicken broth, stirring up any bits stuck to the pan. Add the pasta and half the shredded basil.

Cook until volume of liquid is reduced by half. Stir in butter. Put on serving plates and top with Parmesan, remaining basil, and pine nuts.

It's a good basic recipe working well with any type of add-ins such as broccoli, shrimp, chicken, etc. We like it pretty basic...just the way it's written above. At times I have cut back a bit on the olive oil... but it really does taste best with the butter added at the end. I may decrease it to 1 T or so of butter but it's best not to omit this. I mean, the menu (see picture on right) says that it is heart healthy....go figure.

I don't think a summer has gone by since I got this recipe that I haven't made it with garden basil and a garden tomato. Just perfect this week with fresh CSA basil. I had to use a grocery store tomato, so I do know that this will be better in a few weeks with some locally grown tomatoes; however, it's pretty good anyway.