Pasta Al Pomodoro

It's been an insane few weeks, but I finally had time to get back in the kitchen and make a real dinner tonight. I was getting really sick of takeout and boxed dinners! I read this article about whipping up great pasta in the latest issue of Bon Appetit, and I felt like I had to try it- pasta is one of my ultimate comfort foods.  Here's a shocker- pasta is even more delicious with some good cheese and a pat of butter mixed in the sauce. Who'd have thought? Though I'll probably try this technique again, I decided to start with a nice simple pasta al pomodoro.

The recipe was pretty simple- olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, red pepper flakes... oh yeah, and cheese and butter. Since I was being fancy and cooking a recipe from Bon Appetit, I decided to go all out and spring for some fresh basil. It's expensive, but man, it's tasty. The pasta turned out quite well, and I have to admit, I learned some things from the article. The butter certainly helps, but adding a good amount of pasta water also added a nice creaminess to the pasta. About half an hour after starting, I had a delicious pasta dinner!