Our Easy Caprese Pasta to Welcome Warmer Weather

“Boston c’e’ la neve” is the beginning of a song lyric from one of my overplayed favorite Italian Artists, Eugenio Finardi, and after spending our first winter in Boston and in quarantine, there hasn’t been much snow but it’s still disgustingly cold with a few pockets of sunny and warmer weather. I’ll take whatever I can get right now, but I’m already daydreaming about pranzo in the backyard and flowers continuously blooming. We are almost there, I can feel it! For now, I’ve resorted to trying to throw on a tank top and a little extra bronzer on my face to imagine that I’m sitting outside feeling the sun’s warmth on my entire body. As I’m itching to switch over from sweaters to sundresses, our menu has also been working it’s way to accommodate those warmer temperatures that are just a slight figment of our imagination. Our caprese pasta was originally introduced to me being called “Buttera” however, I have learned that Buttera is actually a different type of pasta dish altogether. I will continue to call it our Buttera in our family, but call this simple pasta dish what you wish, but it is a staple in our frequently made weekend menu di pranzo.

I remember when Roberto and I started living together in our first apartment in New York City and we worked hard to save money, pay off debt and that involved a lot of cooking from home – which was fun and gave us more time together. While we always have an over abundance of onions, garlic and extra virgin olive oil in our household (the necessary staples), when you can add fresh tomatoes and mozzarella to the mix , you can create an exceptional pasta dish that leaves you always wanting more. However, I will note that I particularly LOVE garlic, and a little goes a long way – so having a toothbrush handy to larvarsi i denti (brush your teeth) later in the day is probably a good idea!

What you will need:

• Large Pot for boiling water
• Large Bowl for mixing ingredients
• Strainer
• Pasta Spoon
• Knife
• Cutting Board

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of a red onion (50g cipolla rossa)
• 1 clove of garlic (1 spicchio di aglio)
• 4 Medium Tomatoes – any kind or 8-10 cherry tomatoes (4 pomodori o  8/10 pomodorini)
• 3-4 slices of fresh mozzarella (3-4 fette di mozzarella)
• 200g of spaghetti no. 12 *we like using Spaghetti but use any pasta shape that you prefer – 200g is for 2 people*
• q.b. Salt (sale)
• q.b. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Olio d’olive extra vergine)

*q.b. stands for quanto basta which means how much is needed for that particular thing that you are cooking – you will see this a lot in Italian cooking because it is not a precise measurement. It depends on how much salt or additional thing that you believe the dish needs*

Preparation:

• Start by placing a pot filled with water on the stove on high heat in order to bring to a boil.
• While the pot is on the stove, you can begin to chop up your onion, garlic, tomatoes and mozzarella.
• Be careful with the onion and garlic as both pack a serious punch in flavor to your dish (note: you do not need to add the entire close or 1/4 of onion – use to taste)! Some days we decide whether or not to add the onions, but since we both love them, today was a day where we were going all in! 

• When dicing up your fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, keep these pieces relatively the same size.
• Add all ingredients to a POOL (think swimming pool, bathtub) of extra virgin olive oil. Don’t be shy here! The oil acts as your sauce and if you don’t think you have enough, you can always add more once you add your pasta at the end. You really don’t want the pasta to be dry when you mix it all together.

• With all ingredients added to the bowl of olive oil, add some salt to taste and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

• During these 10 minutes put some salt in your boiling water and add the pasta. I like to cook our spaghetti for about 12 minutes as I don’t prefer it super al dente. We like using either Di Cecco or Garofalo here in the U.S.

• When your pasta is cooked to your liking, strain the pasta over the sink. Then take your pasta fork and transfer the pasta to your large bowl of tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic, onion and extra virgin olive oil.

• The heat of the pasta will slightly melt the mozzarella a bit, but will ultimately blend all of the flavors.
• This is the point where you can decide if you need to add a little more olive oil.

• Next, plate it up and enjoy while either sitting outside in the sun or while you close your eyes and transport yourself to warmer temperatures at your kitchen table.

This pasta dish could not be easier and more satisfying! I like to call it my “lazy pasta” because in about 15 minutes you have a dish that indulges your pasta cravings, but also doesn’t feel super heavy when you are basking in your bathing suit out in the sun. Can you tell that this cold Boston dwelling girl is daydreaming about Mediterranean seas as I type this? Allora (So), it’s time for me to get back to the kitchen and I’ll leave you with this recipe in hopes that it brings you feelings of warmth!

Let me know in the comments below how your very own Caprese Pasta comes out! I’d love to hear from you 🙂 Be sure to also sign up for my newsletter so that you don’t miss anything!