Penne with Two Tomatoes and Mozzarella

It's Friday of the second week of Lent, and being the good Spanish Catholic that I am (Hi, mom!), I am giving up meat today. This actually doesn't feel like a sacrifice, but for some reason, the moment I can't have meat, I have no idea what to cook that doesn't involve meat. This recipe is another one from Martha Stewart. It took only half an hour to make, and I really enjoyed it. This is just a really light and simple dish; I can imagine making this for a summer picnic or potluck when tomatoes are really fresh

Here is what you will need:



Step 1: In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente.



Step 2: Cut the mozzarella and place the cheese in the freezer. According to Martha, chilling the mozzarella cubes in the freezer for 15 minutes helps them retain their shape when they're added to the hot pasta.



Step 3: While the water boils, slice the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and chives.




Step 4: When you drain the pasta, set aside 1/2 cup of the pasta water.



Step 5: In pasta pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and pasta water. Cook until cherry tomatoes soften--this took me about 10 minutes.



It will look like this...


Step 6: Add pasta, chilled cheese, and chives to pot, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.




Full list of ingredients:
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used an 8 ounce package)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
12 ounces penne rigate
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 cup snipped chives