My husband and I make this caprese pasta umpteen times each summer, especially in July and August when we can get homegrown tomatoes (ours or a nearby farm).  It’s light, delicious and, aside from a bit of chopping, easy to make.  The ‘caprese’ part of the pasta (everything except the pasta) can be made earlier in the day and kept in the refrigerator.  Just make sure that you bring it to room temperature (30 minutes to an hour) before adding it to the pasta.

In my (humble) opinion, the original recipe used too much olive oil and not enough mozzarella cheese, so I’ve amended the recipe.  However, you may want to play with the measurements a bit until you get it to your exact liking (the recipe called for 1 cup of olive oil and 1 lb. of mozzarella).

Caprese Pasta (adapted from Food & Wine, May 1997)

• 1 1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small dice
• 8 medium tomatoes, cut into small dice*
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup olive oil (and up to 1 cup)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 lb. pasta (bow ties, spaghetti, fettucini, orecchiette …your choice)

1. In a bowl, toss the mozzarella with the tomatoes, garlic, oil, basil and salt.  Season generously with black pepper and crushed red pepper**.  Let stand 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a stockpot of water to boil.  Salt the water and stir in the pasta.  Boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente (look to your pasta package directions for timing); drain well.
3. Return the pasta to the pot; let sit one to two minutes.  Then add the tomato and mozzarella mixture to the pot and toss very well.  Serve hot or at room temperature.  Enjoy!

*firm tomatoes like Romas and Juliettes are great – but any tomato is fine to use!

**you don’t have to use the crushed red pepper liberally if you’d prefer not to.  But do use at least a bit – it really adds to the dish.

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When I first came across this recipe I was intrigued by it.  It called for tossing the raw spaghetti with melted butter and then cooking it in chicken broth until the broth was absorbed.  Because I love the way many foods taste when cooked in chicken broth (collards, potatoes, etc.) I thought this had potential.  Further – it was EASY.  A one pot meal.  The only turn-off was that it called for 4 tablespoons of butter for 2 servings and that seemed a bit excessive.  Or indulgent.  And I wanted this recipe to work not only as a company dish but also as a weeknight side;  if it was going to be the latter it couldn’t swim in butter.  And, finally, I wanted the lemon to be the most pronounced flavor.  Using both lemon zest and lemon juice helped to ensure that.

So I made it several times.  First with 4 tablespoons of butter.  It was delicious with a noticeable lemony butter taste.  Then I tried it with 3 tablespoons of butter and it still fabulous.  Then I took it down to 2 tablespoons of butter and I am happy to report that although the ‘butter’ taste wasn’t quite as pronounced as the fully-loaded recipe – it was every bit as delicious and still had a creamy, luscious mouth-feel to it.

To serve this lemon pasta as an entree, I simply added shrimp that I quickly sauteed in olive oil and a bit of red pepper flakes.  More on that after the recipe!