Make-your-own summer pasta dinner

Before I went gluten-free and dairy-free, one of my favorite comfort foods was a bowl of pasta with olive oil, garlic and chillies. But I could also eat other comfort foods - pizza, chinese takeaways etc. Now, my choices are much more limited so I tend to get ridiculously happy when I end up with a meal that is incredibly tasty and easy. And you can't get any easier than this pasta dish.

Put your pasta on. In a pan, heat some olive oil (enough to coat all your pasta) and add garlic slices and chilli flakes, both to taste. I tend to use a lot of garlic. :-) Serve each person a plate of pasta coated in the olive oil mixture. Also set out - torn pieces of parma ham, olives, diced fresh tomatoes, dried or semi-dried tomatoes, roquette salad leaves, toasted pine nuts and torn fresh basil. Any anything else you want - my husband added grated parmesan to his dish last night. 

The beauty of this is that everyone takes whatever they want. All the flavors are fresh and work well together but if someone doesn't like one ingredient (or likes a lot of one of the flavors) it's not a problem. A super tasty summer dish, perfect for entertaining. We liked it so much that we're having it again tonight! :-)

This is my entry for the Whip up Something New challenge - July's edition is hosted by Margot, visit her linky post to add your recipe and check out the other entries.