Summertime finds many of us constantly on the go, and busy schedules make quick and easy weekday dinners a must for most.
Hence, you can’t go wrong with a pasta dish. Boil the water and add pasta, cook and drain. Add some sauteed vegetables to the hot pasta and you’re all set. Toss together a fresh garden salad while the pasta is cooking, and you have a meal in 30 minutes or less.
Today’s recipe is one such easy summertime dish that combines fresh basil, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.
My basil is just fantastic this summer. I’ve got two barrels full of lush green leaves with the scent of licorice. It’s one of my favorite summer herbs. Lots of fresh shards of basil are mixed in this pasta dish.
An easy way to cut the basil is to stack the leaves on top of each other and roll them into a cylinder. Thinly slice the cylinder on the diagonal. Be sure to slice it just before mixing it in. Basil bruises easily and the leaves will darken once cut. They will stay green longer if you tear them.
Today’s dish also features grape tomatoes, another summer favorite.
These little sweeties are sauteed with garlic in olive oil. Sauteing until they almost burst chars them a little on the outside and intensifies their flavor.
The addition of one of my pantry staples, marinated artichoke hearts, makes up the sauce component of this dish.
Jarred marinated artichokes are typically marinated in oil, vinegar and some spices. You can use some or all of the marinating liquid to make up the sauce in this recipe. The dish isn’t dripping in sauce; rather, the sauce is just enough to coat the pasta.
Finally, the pasta is rounded out with fresh mozzarella, often labeled as bocconcini. The fresh mozzarella has a much softer texture than regular mozzarella and has a fresh, sweet taste. Fresh mozzarella is sold in small spheres (about the size of a large cherry) or bigger ones (about the size of a plum) packaged in whey or water in plastic containers. It’s also sold in a log shape or round shape, about the size of a baseball, wrapped in plastic. Look for it near the deli or specialty cheese section in most grocery stores.
You will also find it sold marinated in an olive oil, spice and herb mixture. Marinated mozzarella is a time-saver because you can use some of the oil to season other dishes. In today’s recipe, you can use marinated fresh mozzarella along with some of the seasoned oil, just cut back on the artichoke liquid.
