Strawberry Caprese Pasta

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I hope that you all had a great weekend! I went to the California Delta with the boyfriend and his fam. Post to come later. What did you all do?

For the previous four memorial day weekends, I have gone to the Arroyo Grande Strawberry Weekend. It is a fun-filled weekend of food, sun, vendors, and of course strawberries. One year my friends and I decided to throw a strawberry festival after-party. We had strawberry shortcake, chocolate dipped strawberries, and of course strawberry margaritas.

I decided to bring something that would balance out the sugar and alcohol. I looked around on google for awhile and found a strawberry caprese pasta that looked perfect. I have made it many times since and it is always a crowd pleaser.

People are a little surprised that they are eating strawberries and pasta in the same bite, but the balsamic vinegar and basil make a great counterpart to the sweet strawberries.

Prepare your ingredients! I seem really like the red, white, and green ingredient combo. Need to get on the red, white, and blue.

Mix in the strawberries.

Add the little mozzie balls.

Pour in the balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Add in the basil, salt and pepper.

Look how pretty all the colors are.

Plate out a portion for yourself, pour a healthy serving of wine, and relax and enjoy.

STRAWBERRY CAPRESE PASTA - Serves 6

Inspired by Feeding Maybelle

(printable recipe)

In regards to the pasta, you can really use any small, tubular pasta for this recipe. I have made it before with cellentani and gemelli (not sure if that is considered tubular, but I like it). As for the tomatoes, as part of the “caprese,” they are definitely a great addition, but not necessary, as mine were forgotten at the store. If you want to add tomatoes, I suggest about a pint of sugar plum or cherries cut in half.

Ingredients:

1 pound penne

¾ lbs strawberries, tops removed and sliced in ¼’s or ⅙’s depending on the size

16 oz container of small mozzarella balls, sliced in half

2T balsamic vinegar

3T extra-virgin olive oil

10 large basil leaves, chiffonaded

Kosher salt

Cracked black pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Once your water has boiled, salt the water and add the pasta. Stir occasionally and cook al dente according to package directions.

Meanwhile, assemble your mise en place. Once your pasta has finished cooking, drain and give a quick rinse to cool it down a bit (I prefer this recipe at room temperature because I don’t like the mozzarella melted). Transfer your pasta to large serving bowl and gently mix in the strawberries, mozzarella, and tomatoes (if using). Pour in the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and mix to evenly coat the ingredients. Gently fold in the basil and add in salt and pepper to taste. (Make sure to open the right end of your salt shaker or you could end up with this).

Also, I am currently working on redesigning my blog, so please bear with me while I attempt to teach myself HTML. Better things to come! :-)

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