Showing posts with label extra virgin olive oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extra virgin olive oil. Show all posts

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!