Caprese Pasta

This pasta dish is a no brainer. I looked in my fridge and saw I had fresh basil next to a ball of fresh mozzarella. And what do you know? Sitting on my countertop was a container of cherry tomatoes that I didn't even have a plan for (they were buy one get one free this week at the grocery store)! And so this caprese pasta dish was born. I also added spinach since I'm always trying to get more greens in. I made this as a sidedish, but it ended up being the main event since we all gobbled it up happlily. I love roasting the cherry tomatoes until they are literally bursting with flavor. You could add cooked Italian sausage to this and it would be a perfect meal.

Caprese Pasta

1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

2 c mafalda pasta (or your favorite pasta)
2-3 Tbls fresh basil, chopped
1 c baby spinach
1 c whole milk mozzarella, cut in chunks
1 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400. On a half sheet pan, arrange cherry tomatoes and drizzle with two Tbls of olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes or until tomatoes start to burst.

Meanwhile, boil water for pasta. Add salt and pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain pasta and place back in the sauce pan. Add basil, spinach, mozzarella, olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted cherry tomatoes. Heat through and serve.