Summertime on a plate! This vibrant twist on aglio e olio brings the garden to your table with fragrant basil, spicy chili flakes, sweet cherry tomatoes, and a drizzle of quality olive oil.
Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with ¼ teaspoon of sea salt into a fine paste.
Add a few basil leaves to the mortar and pestle at a time, and mash until softened (but not pureed). Do this until all of the basil is added. Add the chili flakes.
If your mortar is not large enough, transfer the mixture to a bowl. Slowly mix in the olive oil. Add the salt to taste.
Set the mixture aside for at least a half and hour to allow the flavors to mingle. When ready, gently toss with warm/hot pasta, adding more olive oil if needed. Add in the cherry tomatoes, and mix well. Add freshly ground pepper, to taste.
Serve topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a few more chili flakes.
Notes
This recipe is sort of a cross between alio e olio (garlic and olive oil) and pesto. This doesn’t have the fine processing of basil that pesto does, allowing the oil to do most of the work of coating the pasta.Should coat about 4 servings of pasta. Very easy to double, if needed. Note: I felt it wasn’t as much pesto as I would personally like, so I did double the recipe.