There is a lovely Italian eatery near my folks. I finally went there last month even though I have driven by it for a decade now. My husband had the Pomodoro Basilico pasta last time we went and asked me to make it at home; additionally my son wanted to ride our bikes. Ethan recently graduated from a child seat to his own tandem like Tia so he has been eager to go riding.

      I decided it would be a fun outing to ride and get the ingredients from our neighborhood Trader Joes  to make the pasta dish- my man had a better suggestion to ride to Whole Foods because it is not uphill. Off we went and it was a glorious ride. I love Daylight Savings! I wish it never ended. Of course we picked up a few things we needed/wanted while we were there.  One contender was a mini watermelon, we had to pry it out of Tia’s hands at the register when I realized we had to put all these groceries in our bike baskets! We got home and had our neighbor take pictures (this is the “better” one above). The recreated  pasta was soooo good! I found a recipe online and then tweaked it. Here it is….

Pomodoro Basilico

1 box of Angel Hair pasta
1 28 oz can of Whole Foods 365 crushed plum tomatoes with basil
1/2 cup of good EVOO
1 minced yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
3/4 cup of  cooking red wine
1 Tbls of Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbls of sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parmesan to taste
Basil leaves to garnish

Cook the pasta. In another pot heat up Olive oil and onion until softened then add garlic and sautee for a minute. After add in the tomato, wine, sugar and salt and pepper. Let everything simmer and thicken for about 15 minutes. Pour sauce over pasta, sprinkle with Parmesan and torn basil (cutting basil causes browning via oxidation) leaves. Eat up!