Pasta and Meatballs - Part 2

Before heading out of town last week, I did prepare supper on Tuesday. I used the same meatball recipe as previously detailed in my Pasta and Meatballs post. However, this time, I went with a garlic and olive pasta with diced tomatoes. The recipe is super simple. It contains:
- 2 cups of uncooked elbow pasta
- 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 6 or so cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 4 tbsp. dried parsley
- Pepper to taste
- 14.5 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes, drained

I usually chop the garlic and add it to a skillet with the olive oil and let it sit for as long as practical, usually as long as it takes to put the meatballs together. I then heat the oil and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes until the garlic starts to show color and then add the salt, parsley, and pepper and stir it all in the skillet before pouring it over the pasta. Don't let the garlic brown and get bitter, just make sure it has a bit of color to it. After adding the mixture from the skillet, I add the canned tomatoes and stir it all up. The result is unintentionally quite festive looking and super tasty. Since the olive oil will inevitably settle to the bottom of the pasta, make sure you stir it well just before plating it up.