This recipe comes from the September 2010 issue of the Food Network Magazine and yes, it is Joe Biden’s recipe but whatever your politics, this pasta is delicious! 🙂
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 shallot, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced (I pressed mine of course!)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sugar (optional) (I included it because I was using store bought tomatoes but I bet if you make this with tomatoes from your garden, when you have them, you won’t need the sugar)
2 pounds mixed heirloom tomatoes, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 pound pasta, such as campanelle, penne or fusilli
12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2″ pieces (I used shredded)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (my fresh basil plant reached the end of it’s life so I left this out)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, shallot and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add sugar, if desired (depending on the sweetness of your tomatoes). Add tomatoes and gently toss. Marinate at room temperature, about 15 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook as label directs. Drain in colander and run under cold water to stop cooking.
3 Add pasta and mozzarella to tomato mixture and toss. Stir in basil and lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate, tossing occasionally, until serving.
It’s so nice to see a pasta salad that doesn’t use dressing! Seriously, this looks great, light and fresh. Perfect for summer.
It was so good! I’ll be using the lemon juice/olive oil combo on other salads too.