Foodie for a Year : June [a favorite summer recipe]

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Welcome to Foodie for a Year : June! Today we are sharing our favorite summer recipes. I'm excited to share one of my new and very favorite recipes with you today.



Pesto Pasta Salad with tomatoes and mozzarella!

So this is actually a new recipe to me, but I love it so much that I had to share. I originally saw it in my Cooking Light magazine and thought it sounded delicious. They suggest it for "Meatless Monday" but you could totally add some chicken if you wanted to have a little protein. I didn't when I made it, but you totally could.

Recipe
(from Cooking Light Magazine, June 2016)

This Caprese-inspired pasta toss is the ultimate summer main for a busy weeknight, outdoor picnic, or lunch on the go.

8 ounces uncooked, whole grain farfalle
2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
3 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 3/4 cup), divided
1 ounce Romano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat, drain. Place pasta in large bowl.
2. Combine basil and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth. Add basil mixture, tomatoes, and 1.5 ounces mozzarella to pasta; toss to combine. Top with remaining  1.5 ounces of mozzarella and the Romano cheese.

And that's it! SO easy... even I could do it! (True story!)

A few notes :
- I've used penne (in the picture above) and rotini instead of farfalle.
- I used store bought pesto instead of making my own.
- I used Parmesan instead of Romano.
- I used all red cherry tomatoes instead of a mixture of yellow and red (because I didn't have any yellow).
- I used a whole box of pasta instead of what the recipe calls for (half) so I doubled the mozzarella and the tomatoes so it was proportionate and had just as many goodies as it did pasta.
- I literally just made the pasta, cut up the tomatoes, added the tomatoes/mozzarella cheese/pesto to the pasta, sprinkled some Parmesan on top and called it a day.
- After I took the picture, I added avocado to the top because... I love avocado.

It's seriously such a delicious, light, easy, fast meal to make on a weeknight. It made a ton of food, Mason loved it, and Seth and I had left overs for lunch the next two days! I highly recommend it.


Don't forget to mark your calendars... our next Foodie for a Year link up is on August 2nd! On August 2nd, we'll be sharing a quick/easy weeknight meal! I'm so excited for these recipes - it's the topic I've been looking forward to since the beginning!


And in case you forgot to mark your calendars for the rest of the link ups :

Foodie for a Year [www.chasinmasonblog.com]

Courtney, Jamie, Jamie, Sarah, Whitney, and I are excited that you want to share your favorite summer recipe with us! Don't forget to add your link below so we can check it out!




21 comments:

  1. YUM! We are hopefully growing some little tomatoes on the deck. This would be perfect to use them for!

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  2. I make something very similar! Sometimes I throw in peppers and it always tastes better the next day! Oh and avocado is a great idea!

    Xo, Evelina @ Fortunate House

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  3. You really can't go wrong with pesto and mozzarella. Unless of course nobody else eats pasta in your family. I made a quick lasagna pasta thing the other day and it was delish but I had to eat it all myself for every meal. Aria will eat the plain pasta though if I remember to set some aside for her before saucing.

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  4. This is right up our alley!! Perfect for summer...so colorful, light and sounds so flavorful!! Thank you!!

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  5. This looks SO GOOD for summer!!

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  6. YAY!!! I'm so glad you blogged this recipe! I totally pinned it, and we will be having it soon. It looks SO good!

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  7. Oh I am loving this! I love pasta and mozzarella so this is right up my alley! Will definitely be making this soon!!!

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  8. This looks and sounds delicious! I think Mase will even eat this, win win!!!

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  9. This looks and sounds delicious! I think Mase will even eat this, win win!!!

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  10. My mouth is seriously watering right now. I need that for lunch!

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  11. Anything with tomatoes and mozzarella is a winner in my book! Sounds like the perfect summer pasta dish!

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  12. That looks great! Yum...anything with those ingredients are a win in my book.

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  13. Yum!!!! This seems like it would be great with Italian sausage too! I'm a super fan of quick & easy meals!! Marking my calendar for the next link up!

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  14. This looks and sounds delicious! I am going to make this soon. Nate isn't a pasta salad fan, so that just means more for me! ha

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  15. This looks so fresh and yummy, especially those big chunks of mozzarella!! This needs to go into our summer menu rotation. :)

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  16. Pasta is my favorite! I hope to have homegrown tomatoes to use for this recipe because those are the best :)

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  17. So glad you shared this recipe I have been thinking about trying something like this out for a while!

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  18. That recipe looks so yummy! I'm always looking for a new pasta recipe. We will have to try it. :)

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  19. I love this recipe! I'm a big pasta fan but am always looking for a lighter pasta dish, and this looks really good. Saving it for sure!

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  20. Yum!!! Wish I would've had this for lunch...and not an english muffin. womp womp!!!

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  21. This looks so dang good!! I am down for a nice bowl of pasta any day.

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