I have made a bunch of tomato based pasta dishes on the blog. From my grandmother’s pasta sauce and meatballs recipe to lightened up lasagna.  Since it is summer and I picked up a large container of mixed tomatoes and mozzarella balls from the store I thought I would try a pasta that incorporated these two ingredients. I love a caprese salad and do it both with larger tomatoes and smaller ones in a mixed salad variety. Why not try it with some cooked spaghetti for a main dish on a hot night?

Caprese Pasta Dish

Either earlier in the day or while you are boiling the water, you want to half your grape tomatoes or quarter any larger ones in Olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic oil and herbs. 

Boil Spaghetti until al dente. Once you drain the pasta add your marinated tomatoes and mozzarella balls and some additional basil and parsley if desired. Serve immediately with some grated parmesan if desired. 

I was not sure how the family would react to this uncooked tomato pasta dish but they ate it up. It was filling but light at the same time. The mozzarella melted just slightly for a great flavor as well. 

Drizzle some extra EVOO on top of your plate for a kick of flavor if you desire. 

The key to any good pasta dish starts with a good olive oil too. Not all olive oils are created equal and some companies are even selling you mixed oils and saying they are 100 % olive oil. We recently watched a news story on 60 Minutes about this. In fact I started buying California olive oil instead. I recently learned what to look for in European oils to guarantee authenticity. On each bottle you need to look for the European Union PDO certification. PDO certified products must be produced, processed and prepared in a specific region using traditional production methods and have the sensorial qualities attributed to that region….

What would your family think of this caprese pasta recipe?