This simple Caprese Pasta dish is a luxurious meal: it perfectly encapsulates the classic Italian salad flavors, in a heartier package.

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Tasting genuine mozzarella di bufala in Italy is a life-changing experience. The cheese’s softness, its milky interior and its creamy yet somewhat strong flavor (it comes from buffalos after all) make it absolutely unique. I had my first taste in the heart of Tuscany, I’ve been an advocate. Don’t talk to me about common fresh mozzarella (made from cow’s milk). Its texture is rubbery and it lacks flavor. Maybe it’s snobbery on my part, but everyone who tastes my Caprese Salad is convinced.

Since one ball of fresh Italian mozzarella di bufala sells for $10 at my local grocery store it’s not something I buy every week. I usually buy it when it’s hot and sunny and when we crave a classic Caprese Salad with a glass of Chianti Classico. Sometimes, though, I also get some in the heart of winter when we want to remember summer. Winter may not the best time to buy fresh tomatoes but I find that the vine grown variety always has a great taste, even in January. (I know, ordinary fresh mozzarella is not acceptable, but greenhouse tomatoes in the heart of winter are. Go figure.)

Last week a ball of mozzarella sneaked into my cart but back home I realized I didn’t know what I would do with it. I wanted to find a new idea but the cheese’s texture is too precious for anything cooked and I kept coming back to a variation on the same old cold-salad theme. I searched for inspiration online and ended up on the Italian Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOC Association site. I managed to dust my basic Italian off and browsed through their recipes. I found that they make many pasta dishes in which the mozzarella is added last, so that it just warms up in the pasta.

I checked in the fridge: pesto? Check. Fresh basil? Check. Cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and rocket salad? Yes! So I decided to make my Caprese, pasta style.

The key is to prepare all of your ingredients in advance because it’s a very quick, put-together dish once the pasta is cooked. I diced and de-seeded the cherry tomatoes, sprinkled them with fleur de sel and black pepper; toasted the pine nuts, picked over and washed the basil leaves and took a handful of arugula leaves out. It’s best to wait till the very last minute to tear your mozzarella ball into pieces or you lose its delicious milk – you want it in your pasta!

The result was an absolutely fantastic warm (not hot) pasta dish that’s perfect for summer. The fresh flavors are incredibly reminiscent of the classic Caprese and fit the pasta perfectly. The cheese I mixed in with the pasta ended up softening a lot but not melting away, which I was very happy about. This is a recipe worth hunting down for the real mozzarella di bufala (it’s now pretty easy to find, even Amazon sells it), although I figure it would also be a very fine pasta dish served with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

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Caprese Pasta

This simple Caprese Pasta dish is a luxurious meal: it perfectly encapsulates the classic Italian salad flavors, in a heartier package.

Prep Time:15 mins

Cook Time:10 mins

Servings 2 servings

Author Marie Asselin, FoodNouveau.com

Ingredients

US Customary / Metric

• 5.6 oz dried linguine pasta
• 3 tbsp pine nuts
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small bunch of fresh basil leaves
• 1 large handful of arugula
• 1/4 cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella di bufala (about 8 oz or 225 g)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Fleur de sel, or flaky sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Cook the pasta according to the packaging's instructions.
• While the pasta's cooking, toast the pine nuts in a nonstick skillet set over very low heat (keep an eye on the pine nuts as they toast because they can burn really quickly). Remove to a plate and set aside.
• Sprinkle fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper over the halved tomatoes so that they start soaking in the flavors. Drain the mozzarella di bufala.
• Before the end of the pasta cooking time, scoop about 1/4 cup (60 ml) of pasta water. Transfer this pasta water to a bowl or a measuring cup, then add the pesto and whisk to combine. Drain the pasta in a colander.
• In the pot used to cook the pasta, pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Put the pasta back into the pot. Drizzle the pesto over the pasta and stir to combine. Add the cherry tomatoes, arugula, and pine nuts. Sprinkle with a good pinch of fleur de sel and some freshly ground black pepper. Tear half of the mozzarella ball into pieces and incorporate it to the pasta.
• SERVING: Divide the pasta between warm serving bowls. Tear the remaining mozzarella and divide it between the portions. Garnish with fresh basil and serve.

Did you make this?

Tell me how you liked it! Leave a comment or take a picture and tag it with @foodnouveau on Instagram.

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