A Super Summery Pasta
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Here’s another pasta dish I learned while working at Fork in Philadelphia. As soon as the Branch Creek cherry tomatoes — the sweetest, most flavorful cherry tomatoes I had ever tasted — arrived each summer, this dish would appear as a first course on the menu. And it was a huge hit, a perfect start to a summer dinner.
It’s simple to prepare: Sauté cherry tomatoes with orecchiette, ciliegene mozzarella and basil pesto. Add some fresh basil just before plating along with some shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh cracked pepper. Yum yum yum. Toasted pine nuts, I think, would make a nice addition to this pasta as well.
Note: I normally avoid buying jarred sauces, tapenades, pestos, etc. but I have an amazing Italian deli in my town that sells enormous jars of delectable pesto at a very reasonable price. It’s hard to pass up and makes for very easy preparations. So, if you have a good local source for pesto, by all means use it in this dish — everything else will take minutes to prepare. Here’s the recipe I use for basil pesto, when I make it from scratch.
I am anxious to try the recipe here with roasted red peppers substituted for the tomatoes and goat cheese for the mozzarella … stay tuned.
Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella & Basil Pesto
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Description
Inspired by a recipe we made at Fork every summer as soon as the Branch Creek tomatoes began arriving at the restaurant.
Notes: Toasted pine nuts or walnuts would be a nice addition here.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. orecchiette pasta
- kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 lb. (or more) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto, plus more to taste
- 1/2 lb. ciliegene (small balls) mozzarella
- fresh basil*
- shaving of Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)
- fresh cracked black pepper
* If you have small tender leaves, leave them whole; otherwise, chiffonade the basil.
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season well with kosher salt. Add pasta and cook till al dente, about 9 minutes or about 2 minutes less than what package instructions suggest. (Pasta will continue cooking as it is tossed with the other ingredients so it’s best to undercook it a little bit.) Drain pasta, reserving a cup or more of the pasta cooking liquid. Do not rinse.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for 30 seconds. Add pasta and pesto. Cook 1 minute, stirring to coat pasta with the pesto. Taste. Adjust with more salt, pepper, pesto, or a few tablespoon of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to make it saucier. Add the mozzarella. Stir to incorporate. Add the fresh basil and remove from the heat.
- Divide pasta among bowls and sprinkle each with some fresh shavings of Parmigiano. Crack the pepper over top and serve.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
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29 Comments on “A Super Summery Pasta”
What an incredible looking pasta. Love all the color and tons of basil you added. Perfect for summer.
My kitchen is overflowing with cherry tomatoes and basil…I know what we are having for dinner tonight!! Beautiful colors!
That looks so delicious! I too have been discarding the roasted red pepper juices! I can’t believe I never thought to use it before!
Ali–
This is so good. How about serving at room temp——? On the beach at sunset?
Lee
Hi Lee,
Serving this on the beach at sunset sounds ideal. If you want to serve it at room temperature, I might recommend not even cooking the tomatoes. Just cook the pasta, toss it while it is warm with enough pesto to make it flavorful, and then add the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil once it is completely cool. How does that sound? Some toasted pine nuts might be a nice addition to this room temperature pasta, too.
Report back if you end up making it! I hope all is well.
Love,
Ali
I live the look and feel of this post, and it makes me want to try tossing more stuff in a wok. Gorgeous.
Who needs cookbooks these days when we have sites like yours, this pasta dish looks so colourful, delicious and easy to make, it’s ideal for us right now as the weather is warming up here. I think I’ll take Lee’s advice and eat this with my husband on the beach. FANTASTIC.
I needed a healthy dose of summer today, so I made this … IN FEBRUARY! I found some lovely greenhouse-grown cherries and some beautiful, fragrant basil. It was just what the doctor ordered (and my kids LOVED it!)
Melissa — I’m so glad to hear this! I am craving some summer sunshine myself!
I actually do this pretty often in Summer when my cherry tomatoes are in abundance. If I have a salad of tomatoes and leftover, I will even add a can of Tuna and leave out the mozzarella~ Works wonders for an emergency lunch. That is what I love about my Italian kitchen, the possibilites are endless. I know what I am having for lunch! Saluti! Barbara
Barbara — tuna would make this into a nice, complete meal! Thanks for sharing!
I just made this for me and my fiance but I added peas, prosciutto, and pine nuts. It was super easy and tasty. My fiance had thirds!
Julia — So happy to hear this! Love your additions!
I am so excited to try this tonight! I bought feta instead and I am going to try baby scallops in this!
Melynda — awesome!
Ok so I made this yesterday for a jewelry party. I cooked the pasta and added the pesto to the warm pasta and then let cool. then I added the rest of the stuff. I served this cold and it was very good and a hit! Thank you very much for the recipe.
Heidi — what a great idea. I almost like this idea even better. Your way would prevent the mozzarella balls from all clumping together and from the basil losing its vibrant green color. I like that you added the pesto to the warm pasta, too — I bet that helps it soak up the flavors more. Thanks for the variation. Love the idea of serving this room temperature for a party!
I love how colorful and fresh this pasta dish looks. I can’t wait to give it a try. Found this on Pinterest!
This was absolutely wonderful!! I made it last evening. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
This dish was so good! I love caprese salad, and loved making it in pasta form. The mozzarella does melt together and get a little clumpy, but I’d never complain about eating a big clump of cheese 🙂
Marny, so glad to hear this — the mozzarella ball clumping is sort of annoying despite how delicious clumps of melted cheese are. I wonder what could be done to prevent this? At the restaurant, this dish was made to order, and the mozzarella balls were added at the very last second just five or six per order, so that helped prevent the clumping. I think in a larger quantity, it’s almost impossible to avoid.
You aren’t the only one who didn’t know about the red pepper juices. I am absolutely trying this. And soon! (This pasta dish looks great too!)
My sister-in-law made this for me last week. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. This is my new favorite pasta dish!
Liz — so happy to hear this! I love this one too. It just celebrates summer in every bite!
Becky — it is a great way to use frozen pesto! Beautiful blog! Thanks for sharing.
This is so delicious!! Absolutely loved it. I added more tomatoes and pesto cause I love both of those!! Definatley making again,
I use to have a problem with clumping fresh mozzarella until I tried some advice from America’s Test Kitchen. They recommend freezing the pieces for 15 minutes and it works like a charm! No more big cheese clumps again!
DeAnn — great tip. I am absolutely going to try that next time around. Thanks so much!