Orecchiette with Mozzarella

From The Silver Spoon: Pasta, Phaidon, 2009.

I’m always ready to try a new pasta and I rather liked the idea of this one that was basically an all fresh sauce—only the pasta had to be cooked.

To begin I peeled and chopped three plum tomatoes and placed them in a large bowl. I sprinkled on a little salt and pepper. I then cut into cubes about 200g mozzarella. These were added to the bowl with a few basil leaves torn into halves. A little olive oil was dribbled over all of this.

Now the orecchiette were cooked in boiling salted water until done. They were then drained and quickly added to the bowl of ingredients. A quick stir so that the hot pasta would part melt the cheese, some capers were added and the dish was ready to eat.

I did enjoy this. The little ear shapes of the pasta managed to pick up cubes of mozzarella or pieces of tomato and the freshness was evident in the eating: wonderfully ripe tomatoes, the occasional salty tang of a caper and the chewiness of the part-melted mozzarella. A great meal starter.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔