Saturday, September 11, 2010

Caprese Pasta and Garlic Bread

I love Caprese salad and I love pasta so I thought, why not combine the two?  This is what you'll need for this easy and scrumptious dinner:

-Fresh mozzarella (I usually can't find this anywhere except Whole Foods or a local dairy)
-A thing of Grape or Cherry tomatoes
-Some fresh Basil leaves
-Pasta you like
-Good extra virgin olive oil (I like the Filippo Berio Extra Virgin)
-2 Elephant garlic cloves or 4-5 regular garlic cloves
-A loaf or already baked bread from the bakery/deli (Kroger, Meijer, and Whole Foods by me makes these)
-Mc Cormick 'Italian Herb Seasoning' Grinder (so delicious on any savory foods)
-Some sea salt

Let's get cooking!  (haha)
-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (for the garlic bread)
-Start chopping up your garlic (I like pieces a little bigger than a dice, but you pick what you like best)
-Line a cookie sheet with foil
-Cut your loaf in half and place cut-side up on the cookie sheet
-Drizzle the bread with a little oil, put some garlic on it, then season it, and put it aside
-Fill a pot with enough water for your pasta (directions for pasta cooking are usually on the box) and set that to boil
-Rinse your basil and tomatoes and start chopping up the basil-I grab as many leaves as I want, stack them up on top of each other and start making strips


-When your water starts to boil, throw a little bit of salt in, and your pasta
-When the pasta's cooked, drain it, return it to pot, throw in tomatoes and mozzarella (drained), and put the pot lid back on
-Put your garlic bread into the oven for 4-5 minutes depending on how done you like it
-In a small/medium size skillet pour in enough oil to cover about 3/4 of the surface and then add in the rest of your garlic

-Turn your burner up and fry for about 2 minutes then pour into a larger bowl
-Pour your pasta mix into the bowl, add the basil strips and use tongs or a spoon to mix everything up
Take your bread out, dish out the pasta (season it with the grinder!), and enjoy a great and easy dinner!