My favorite under 20 minutes summer pasta is a bowl of fresh chopped tomatoes, diced mozzarella, basil and garlic oil tossed with a short cooked noodle, then sprinkled with parmesan. It’s very easy to prepare and it taste better at room temperature or cold. Make sure your tomatoes are ripe and local and choose good quality mozzarella. This is a simple and humble dish but it’s packed with flavor and the whole process is ridiculously easy.
Ingredients
- 1 pack pasta penne, sedanini or rigatoni
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes
- 1 large fresh mozzarella, drained and diced
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- a handful of fresh basil leaves
- 2 large cloves of garlic, peeled sliced really thin
- 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and black pepper
Servings:
Instructions
- Boil a large pot of water, add sea salt and cook your pasta according to the directions. Drain, quickly rinse under cold water and place in a large bowl. Toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, toss the tomatoes and mozzarella in a bowl with the basil leaves. I like to rip the basil leaves by hand in small pieces. Season with salt and pepper and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Set aside.
- In a small pan add the olive oil and the slivers of garlic. Cook on low until the garlic is golden then remove from the heat and set aside.
- With a slotted spoon remove the garlic and place on paper towel to drain. Reserve the garlic oil and the slivers for later use.
- Toss the tomatoes mixture with the pasta. Add the some of the garlic oil and the parmesan. Add a touch of black pepper and toss well. Serve at room temperature with extra parmesan and the garlic slivers on the side.
Recipe Notes
You can make the garlic oil in advance and keep in a glass container at room temperature for up to three weeks. I like to substitute pecorino cheese to the parmesan. Burrata is a delicious and creamy alternative to regular mozzarella.
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