I've been meaning to try this recipe for ages. I keep telling myself that I'm going to do it and then bailing and making something else instead. For whatever reason, I just find it difficult to motivate myself to cook a steak first thing in the morning. Even though it's not really any more difficult or time-consuming than a lot of the other breakfast stuff that I've made. Not sure why. It just doesn't seem to jive with my brain.

I finally sucked it up and did it though! And, I gotta say, it was pretty tasty. I mean, I don't think it's going to become my new favourite breakfast or anything, but it was good! And TF enjoyed it too. (The Kidlet didn't really like the steak and just ate the eggs and toast, but still... two out of three ain't bad!)

Steak and Eggs

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 1 large (~700g) T-bone or porterhouse steak
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground and divided
• 280g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp. dried)
• 8 large eggs
• 4 slices bread, toasted and buttered

Directions

1. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat.
2. Season the steak with 3/4 tsp. of the salt and 3/8 tsp. of the pepper.
3. Sear the steak on both sides until it develops a nice colour (3-5 minutes per side).
4. If you like your steak more rare, remove from heat and set aside until ready to serve.
   If you like your steak more well-done, then transfer to oven and bake at 180°C (350°F) while you prepare the sauce and cook the eggs.
5. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the remaining butter in the now-empty pan.
6. Add the tomatoes and season with remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper.
7. Cook until tomatoes soften and being to break down.
8. Stir in chives and thyme and remove from heat.
9. Melt 1/2 Tbsp. of the remaining butter in a separate pan.
10. Crack in four of the eggs and season to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Cover and cook until whites are set (~3 minutes).
12. If you prefer set yolks, flip the eggs and continue cooking for another couple of minutes.
13. Transfer eggs to plates, add the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. butter to the pan, and cook the remaining eggs the same way.
14. Place 2 eggs and 1 slice of buttered toast on each plate.
15. Slice the steak and place ~1/4 of it on each plate.
16. Top the steak with the tomatoes and serve.

I find frittatas tend to make a fairly decent low-effort-but-nutritious breakfast/brunch option. You get protein from the eggs and it's relatively easy to work in at least some veg. They're very flexible. And one frittata will feed all three of us for two meals, which is handy.

This frittata recipe comes courtesy of The Breakfast Bible (which I'm still working my way through). It's meant to be made with parsley, basil, mint, chives, cherry tomatoes, and gruyère. We were all out of fresh basil, so I ended up substituting dried. And our chives had gone off, so I tossed in a small green onion instead. For the cherry tomatoes, I ended up using up some leftover diced tomatoes we had sitting in the fridge. And I ended up going for grated cheddar rather than gruyère because that's what we had on hand. (Although TF and I both think that mozzarella would've also worked really well.) For the topping, I ended up using some baby spinach rather than the arugula, but they're both good options. I know that's a lot of changes, but it still worked out well and gave us a tasty breakfast (and used up some leftovers from the fridge), so I have no complaints!

Frittata with Herbs and Tomatoes

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried)
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh chives (or 1 small green onion, chopped)
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. grated gruyère (or mozzarella or cheddar)
• 1/2 c. halved cherry tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
• 3 c. arugula (rocket)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Beat the eggs with the milk.
3. Mix in the parsley, basil, mint, chives, salt, and pepper.
4. Melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Pour in the egg mixture and sprinkle with cheese and tomatoes.
6. Cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes.
7. Transfer to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
8. If frittata is still undercooked in the centre or insufficiently browned on top, place under broiler for 1-2 minutes to set.
9. Meanwhile, toss arugula with olive oil and lemon juice (if using) and season with a little extra salt and pepper.
10. Once frittata is cooked, top with arugula, cut into wedges, and serve.

Unfortunately, I have no recollection of making this recipe. I know I made it because I wrote it down, along with the title and page number of the book it appeared in, in my notes. And TF says she thinks it sounds familiar. But I don't remember it at all!

I suspect that I probably swapped out the fresh wax (yellow) beans for frozen green beans because I often have the later on hand and never the former. But I can't say for sure. It's possible that I went out and got some fresh yellow beans especially for this recipe. But I doubt it.

I may have even swapped out the cherry tomatoes for tinned diced tomatoes. But, again, I can't say for sure. But it's the kind of thing that I could see myself doing for a recipe like this. Especially if I was in a bind over what to have for dinner and trying to cobble something together last-minute.

One change that I'm almost certain I would have made is to the chicken. Recipe as written, it calls for chicken thighs and drumsticks. I suspect that I probably just got a whole chicken and broke it down (breasts, wings, durmsticks, thighs) and used that rather than going for the all dark meat approach. I've written up the recipe to reflect this change, but left everything else as it was in the original recipe since I can't remember exactly what I did. Possibly not the most accurate accont. But, since it wasn't a stand-out in my mind anyway, I doubt we'll be revisiting it, so the details become far less important at that point.

Braised Chicken with Wax Beans and Tomatoes

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil¹
• 1 whole chicken (~1kg), broken down into pieces (legs, thighs, breasts, wings)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 c. dry white wine
• 3 c. chicken stock
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme²
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard³
• 1 c. cherry tomatoes
• 125g yellow wax beans
• 90g arugula (rocket/roquette)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Warm oil over medium-high heat.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
4. Sear chicken, turning as needed and working in batches if necessary, until golden-brown (8-10 minutes). Set aside.
5. Add onion, carrot, and garlic to the pot, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and sauté until softened (~5 minutes).
6. Add wine, bring to a simmer, and cook until reduced by half (~5 minutes).
7. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
8. Return chicken to pot and add thyme.
9. Cover, transfer to oven, and braise at 180°C (350°F) until chicken is cooked through (50-60 minutes).
10. Transfer chicken to a plate.
11. Strain the braising liquid and return to pot.
12. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half (8-10 minutes).
13. Reduce heat to medium, stir in cream and mustard, and cook until thickened slightly (~5 minutes).
14. Adjust seasoning to taste.
15. Return chicken to pot, cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.
16. Add tomatoes and beans and cook, covered, until softened (~5 minutes).
17. Uncover, stir in the arugula, and cook until wilted (1-2 minutes).

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¹ I know I said that I was going to leave everything but the chicken the same, but I realized that this was one other area where I also almost certainly made some adjustments. The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. of oil. But it also calls for skin-on chicken. And I always find that a lot of fat renders out of the skin. So I would be reluctant to add that much oil to the pan unless I was going to use skinless chicken pieces. Honestly, with skin-on chicken, I'm not sure you really need any added fat at all! But I decided to write it up with half the amount since, as noted, I can't remember exactly what I did for this. ^Back
2 I basically never have fresh thyme on hand and I doubt that I would have gone out and gotten any for this. I suspect that I substituted dried thyme. I would guess ~1 tsp. or so. But, as with the other details, I can't say for sure. (This is why it's important to write up your notes promptly! Oh well...) ^Back
3 I definitely would have used Roman mustard for this. I'm just not sure how much. Sometimes I cut back on the quantity called for somewhat because the Roman mustard is so strong. I probably would have started with ~2 Tbsp. and adjusted from there. ^Back

These were meant to be done on the grill. And if I'd actually made them in July like the date on this post implies, I almost certainly would have done that. Unfortunately, I actually made these on a cold, wet, grey day in November. When the sun had already set by 5pm. So, I wasn't about to go out there and fire up the grill for that. I just popped them under the broiler in the oven and cooked them that way. Not quite as nice a result, but infinitely better cooking experience given the conditions outside.

Recipe as written, these kebabs were only meant to have chicken, tomatoes, and zucchini. I had some mushrooms left over from another recipe though and I felt like a bit of onion would go well, so I added both to my kebabs. I think red onion would have been even better, but the yellow onion worked just fine. And I definitely feel like the extra ingredients elevated these kebabs a bit. I enjoyed the slightly more varied mix of tastes and textures.

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. chopped green onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 680g skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
• 2 zucchinis, thickly sliced
• ~2 dozen cherry tomatoes¹
• 200-250g cremini mushrooms, trimmed
• 1 1/2 small red onions, cut into eighths

Directions

1. Combine yogurt, green onion, garlic, cilantro, oil, salt, and pepper and mix well.
2. Add chicken and toss to coat.
3. Cover and chill for 3-24 hours.
4. Soak ~12 wooden skewers in water for 20-30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, preheat grill for direct, high heat cooking.
6. Thread zucchini slices, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion pieces, and chicken chunks onto the skeweres in whatever arrangement you prefer.
7. Slather the kebabs with any residual marinade and season with a bit of extra pepper.
8. Grill, turning as needed, until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through²

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¹ The cherry tomatoes at the grocery store didn't look that great, so I got a bunch of much larger "cocktail" tomatoes and just cut them in half for my kebabs. ^Back
2 The book says this should take ~8 minutes. I'm unclear on whether that's meant to be 8 minutes total or 8 minutes per side. I suspect, with a good hot grill, you could get these cooked in 8 minutes total. Unfortunately, I was not wooking with a good hot grill. I was working with a broiler. I ended up cooking my kebabs for ~20 minutes, turning every 5. The results were great! Just a bit slower than on the grill. ^Back

I haven't been feeling up to much cooking lately, so I've been making a lot of simple soups and salads. I had a bunch of chicken left over from making a soup earlier and spinach left over from the green smoothie bowls, so I decided to combine that into this salad. There were even a few corn tortillas left over in the fridge that I was able to fry up into tostadas, so it worked out quite well all 'round!

The one thing that I did not have was cherry tomatoes, so I opted to mix in a few tinned diced tomatoes instead. I'm honestly pretty happy with how this worked out. Although I was a bit short of greens and I think it probably could've used a bit of cheese. I think a bit of cheddar would have been a really nice complement to all the other elements.

Chicken Tostada Salad

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 limes
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. peppercorns, ground
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1 (470g) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 c. corn kernels
• 2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 c. canned diced tomatoes)
• 1 jalapeño or poblano chile, minced
• 1 head romaine or leafe lettuce (or equivalent amount of spinach), torn into bite-sized pieces
• 300-350g cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 c. grated cheddar (optional)
• 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
• 1/4-1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2-4 green onions, sliced (optional)
• 4 tostadas

Directions

1. Zest and juice the limes.
2. Combine the lime juice, zest, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking vigorously.
4. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, and chile and toss to combine. Let stand for 5-10 minutes.
5. Add the lettuce, chicken, and cheese.
6. Top with avocado, cilantro, green onions, and cheese (if using).
7. Serve with tostadas on the side.

This was originally supposed to be a zucchini and goat cheese frittata, but I swapped out the goat cheese for pressed cottage cheese. I also reduced the oil, replaced the half-and-half with 2% milk, and increased the basil called for. Overall, I'm pretty happy with these changes. The resulting frittata is still flavourful, but hopefully a bit healthier than the original.

If you'd like to cut a few more calories, you can try making it with 5 whole eggs + 10 egg whites. I've had good luck with replacing up to half the yolks with additional whites in the past. I find frittatas and omelettes made entirely with egg whites to be not to my taste, but as long as they still have some yolks in the mix, I do find that I'm able to play around with the ratios a bit and still get palatable results.

Zucchini Frittata with Cherry Tomato Sauce

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country June/July 2020

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground, divided
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 450g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 onion, halved and thinly sliced, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, divided
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil, divided
• 1 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 zucchini, shredded
• 100g pressed cottage cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Whisk eggs with milk, pepper, and 3/4 tsp. of the salt. Set aside.
3. Melt 1/2 Tbsp. of the butter in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the tomatoes, ~1/3 of the onion, half the garlic, and remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt and cook until the tomatoes begin to break down (~5 minutes).
5. Remove from heat, stir in vinegar and half the basil, transfer to bowl, and set aside.
6. Return skillet to medium heat and add the remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. of butter, zucchini, remaining onion, and garlic to the pan.
7. Cook over medium heat until zucchini has softened (7-8 minutes).
8. Stir in egg mixture and sprinkle evenly with cheese and remaining basil.
9. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until frittata is just set (12-14 minutes).
10. Let rest for 5 minutes then slide onto plate, cut into wedges, and serve topped with the tomato sauce.

I've been continuing to work my way through the cottage cheese breakfast bowl ideas from Budget Bytes. I've don't some of them with yogurt instead of cottage cheese, but I still want to try all the flavours. This is the only savoury option in the list. And it's pretty good. Especially with some furikake on top. It's still, I think, not a favourite for me; it's not something I see myself coming back to over and over again. But it was pretty good (if not amazing) and it was reasonably filling and didn't cost any Points, so it's got that going for it.

Savoury Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl

Slightly adapted from Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free for the WW crowd)
• 6 slices cucumber, quartered
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 hard-boiled egg, quartered
• 1/2 Tbsp. furikake

Directions

1. Top cottage cheese with cucumber, tomatoes, and egg.
2. Garnish with furikake.

I've had my eye on this salad for a while, but I keep not quite getting around to making it. But I finally had all the ingredients and a bit of momentum, so I managed to get it put together.

I've been trying to do the Weight Watchers thing and count my calories and tally up Points and just generally be a little more mindful of what and how much I'm eating. So, with that in mind, I made a few adjustments and substitutions while making this to try to reduce its Points cost. And while it did help a bit, having now sat down and done the math, it didn't make that much of a difference in the end. The original version would've been around 4 Points per serving and my "lighter" version came out to around 3 Points per serving. So better, but not that much better. I think next time I'd just make it with the full amount of oil and cheese. (Although I'll probably keep the tofu instead of the bacon because I quite like it!)

Napa Cabbage Salad

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2020

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. bacon grease
• 1/2 package smoked tofu, sliced
• 1/2-3/4 c. crumbled blue cheese
• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 680g napa cabbage, cut into 3-4cm pieces
• 225g cherry (or grape) tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise then sliced crosswise
• 1 small red onion, quartered and sliced thin
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Melt the bacon grease over medium heat and fry the tofu in it until crispy on both sides.
2. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile, combine the cheese, oil, lemon juice, pepper, and salt and whisk until mostly smooth.
4. Once tofu is cool, chop it into bite-sized pieces.
5. Add cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, basil, and tofu to dressing and toss to combine.

There were a bunch of contenders for what to make with the chicken thighs I picked up the other day. This chicken provençal recipe wasn't one of the ones that initially caught my eye. But I already had the October/November 2019 Cook's Country out for the pork chops and I decided that I wanted to pick another recipe out of the same issue to make next. And, once I actually took a closer look at it, the recipe started to hold more appeal: it includes lots of flavours I like (anchovies, tomatoes, olives, etc), doesn't generate too many dirty dishes, and doesn't take too long to prepare.

We had our chicken over a bit of rice with some left over tebouleh on the side. It was good like that, but I think it would've been even better with potatoes (either baked or mashed) and a spinach salad to go with it. But we were working with what we had (and what we had the energy to prepare), so that's how the meal ended up. Just making a note in case I'm ever planning a similar meal again.

Chicken Provençal

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2019

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in chicken thighs¹
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground, divided
• 1/2 c. flour
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-3 shallots (or 1 red onion), halved and sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 3/4 tsp. dried thyme)
• 2 oil-packed anchovies²
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 340g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 c. pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 c. dry white wine³
• 1/2 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and 1/4 tsp. of the pepper.
3. Place flour in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken, coating thoroughly. Reserve 1 tsp. of the dredging flour. (More if you're increasing the sauce ingredients.)
4. Heat a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the oil.
5. Add the chicken and cook for ~3 minutes on each side.
6. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
7. Reduce heat to medium and add the shallots to the skillet. Cook for 2-4 minutes.
8. Add garlic, thyme, anchovies, pepper flakes, and reserved flour and cook for a minute or so.
9. Add tomatoes, olives, wine, and remaining 1/4 tsp. of pepper and deglaze the pan.
10. Return chicken to pan, skin-side-up, and bring to a boil.
11. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, at 200°C (400°F) until chicken is done (~25 minutes or until interior temperature reaches 80°C/175°F).
12. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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¹ The original recipe called for eight thighs, but we only had six. I really liked the chicken:sauce ratio that this gave us. I'd be seriously tempted to bump up the other ingredients in order to produce more sauce if making it with more than six thighs in the future. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for two anchovy fillets, but TF and I have found that we prefer using whole anchovies as they break down more easily, are cheaper per unit mass, and (at least in our opinion) are tastier too! ^Back
3 The folks at ATK said that after testing the recipe with both white wine and dry vermouth, they found that their tasters preferred the vermouth. I'm sure it would be lovely with vermouth, but that's not something we keep on hand. In fact, I don't think I've ever used vermouth in anything before. White wine, on the other hand, I use somewhat frequently and, thus, tend to keep a bottle in the pantry for occasional use. So, even though it was deemed sub-optimal, I chose to revert to the white wine option for the sauce. And, honestly, I can't really complain about the results. It was delicious! ^Back

Molaghu Urulikazhangu Bhajee (Potato Mix with Peppercorns)

I needed to use up sweet potatoes and I wasn't really feeling any of my go-to sweet potato recipes, so I decided to give this one a try. It was pretty good. And the Kidlet liked it too!.

The original recipe calls for peeling the potatoes, but I didn't bother with the russets. I did peel the sweet potato though since they usually have somewhat thicker skins. Peel or don't according to your tastes (and the tubers you have available to you).

Molaghu Urulikazhangu Bhajee

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 3 russet (or other floury) potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1cm cubes
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt¹
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp. whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods)
• 1 (7-8cm long) cinnamon stick, broken
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies²
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tomato, diced³
• 15 fresh curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place potato, sweet potato, and water in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender (~10 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, combine salt, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon pieces in a mortar and pound until the mixture resembles coarse sawdust.
4. Add the ground chilies to the spice mix.
5. When the potatoes are done, reserve 1/2 c. of the cooking water and then drain them.
6. Dry the pot and return to medium-high heat.
7. Add the oil and allow it to heat up.
8. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until the seeds stop popping (30-60 seconds).
9. Add the tomatoes, curry leaves, and spice mixture.
10. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have softened (~3 minutes).
11. Add the reserved cooking water and deglaze the pot with it.
12. Add the potatoes and stir to combine everything.
13. Simmer until heated through (~5 minutes).
14. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ Iyer calls for rock salt here. I didn't have any, so I just used coarse sea salt. ^Back
2 Or use 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne + 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika ^Back
3 Or 12 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved ^Back

This recipe arrived via Symbol's mom, along with a large quantity of cherry tomatoes. It's similar to the pomodoro e basilico recipe from Hazan, but with the tomato and basil levels turned up significantly — which I am entirely on board with.

This comes together extremely quickly, is very tasty, and keeps in the fridge well, making an excellent weeknight dinner with leftovers -- the only problem is sourcing the cherry tomatoes (most grocery stores in this area focus on the inferior grape tomato instead).

Hazan recommends spaghetti, spaghettini, or penne lisce. Spaghetti, I think, would be my default for this, but the Kidlet asked for shells instead, and it worked well with those, too.

Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce

Epicurious

Ingredients

• For 1 lb dry, store-bought pasta
• 120mL olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1.5-2L cherry tomatoes
• ½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• ⅛ tsp sugar
• 240mL coarsely chopped fresh basil
• freshly grated parmesan for serving

Directions

1. Cook pasta al dente.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, ~30s.
4. Add tomatoes, pepper, sugar, and 1 tsp salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes burst and release their juices.
5. Toss pasta with sauce and basil. Top with parmesan.

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