Caprese Pasta

This easy Caprese pasta is bursting with flavour from juicy tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fragrant basil, which all cooks together in one pot for a quick and delicious weeknight meal.

Ingredients

500 g dried pasta

1 L chicken or vegetable stock

500 ml milk

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

500 g cherry tomatoes, halved

120 g tomato paste

300 ml cream

1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked

⅓ cup grated parmesan or grana padano

125 g buffalo mozzarella or bocconcini

1 tsp each salt and pepper

¼ cup pine nuts (to serve)

Ingredients

1 lb dried pasta

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups milk

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 lb cherry tomatoes, halved

4.50 oz tomato paste

10 fl oz cream

1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked

⅓ cup grated parmesan or grana padano

4.50 oz buffalo mozzarella or bocconcini

1 tsp each salt and pepper

¼ cup pine nuts (to serve)

Ingredients note

Choose any dried pasta shape you want. I like rigatoni or penne, but long shapes like spaghetti and fettucine also work well.
You can use light or full cream milk. The same goes for the cream. Obviously the full cream versions will add more flavour, but the dish has enough flavour to stand up with light versions if you want to cut down on calories.
Fresh basil is a must to achieve flavour – the dried stuff won’t cut it (the dish will still turn out but will lack that fresh basil flavour which Caprese is known for).
Pine nuts are really the perfect finishing touch to this dish! I highly recommend you include them. If you like, you can lightly toast them first either in a frying pan on the stove or a baking tray in the oven (just watch to make sure they don’t burn).

Directions

1Make the pasta

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the cherry tomatoes and garlic.

2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherry tomatoes just begin to blister (about 5 minutes). Then remove most of them to a bowl using a slotted spoon (there’ll be some juices leftover, that’s fine).

Tip: This step is optional, but if you leave the cherry tomatoes in the pot for the entire duration of cooking, most will break down to nothing. This doesn’t impact taste, but the end product isn’t as visually striking.

3. Add half the stock and all of the milk to the pot, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the pasta and stir well frequently for the first few minutes to break up any pasta that’s stuck together.

4. Continue to stir the pasta regularly, ensuring it’s mostly covered by the liquid (add more of the stock as needed) until the pasta is al dente. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

5. Add the cream, grated cheese, reserved tomatoes, salt and pepper and almost all of the basil (save a few leaves for garnish), and stir through.

Tip: At this point, it will look like there’s way too much sauce, but it thickens on standing.

6. Tear the mozzarella or bocconcini into pieces and scatter on top of the pasta. Place a lid on the pot, and cook for 3 minutes until the cheese is nice and melty.

Serve in bowls topped with fresh basil leaves and scattered with pine nuts. P.S. This tastes even better re-heated the next day, once all the flavours have had more time to infuse!

Wine pairing

Caprese flavour is fresh and vibrant, so you want a wine that’s also fresh but not too strong in flavour that it overpowers the Caprese.

My go to pairing would be a Fiano; with its delicate fruit notes and texture, it’ll provide freshness and balance. You could also pair a Pinot Gris or young Semillon.

Given the beautiful pink hue of the sauce, Rose is also a great option.