Thursday, March 4, 2010

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

6 comments:

  1. Yumm... looks yummy! I'm making pasta tonight too, I think (alfredo rigatoni with broccoli). I might try this next Friday! Thanks for the meatless recipe for Lent.

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  2. I made this the other night and it turned out great! I used campanelle instead of penne because that is what I had at home, and it worked great - I love how campanelle holds chunky sauces like this. Thanks for the recipe.

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  3. Clearly, I'm making my grocery list right now. What a quick and easy weeknight meal! I'll make this this week and keep you posted on how it turns out. Keep the recipes coming :)

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  4. Des and I are having this tonight!

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  5. We made this last night! Joe loved it - and said keep the recipes coming. All the recipes we've prepared have been excellent!

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  6. We had it tonight, and it was a success! Thanks, Capital Chef!

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Thank you for taking the time to write! I appreciate the feedback.