A delicious light pasta dish that is simple to make and so refreshing for the summer. This dish is perfect with a green salad and a glass of wine. Buffalo-milk mozzarella really brings out the flavour. You can also use ordinary mozzarella.
I used Fusili pasta but you can use Penne or any other pasta that you prefer. Use firm tomatoes as it is easier to remove the seeds. Other herbs can also be used instead of basil. The Greek yogurt made all the difference to this dish. It was so creamy but without the richness and heaviness of fresh cream.
This recipe has been adapted from Vegetarian by Nicola Graimes.
PREP: 15 minutes COOK TIME: 10-15 minutes SERVES: 4
Ingredients
21/2 cups dried pasta
450 gms plum tomatoes
275 gms mozzarella, drained
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
Grated juice and rind of 1 lemon
15 fresh basil leaves, shredded
1 cup Greek yogurt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh basil leaves to garnish
Instructions
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, according to the package instructions, until just tender.
While the pasta is cooking, quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Chop the flesh into small cubes. Slice the mozzarella into similar sized pieces.
Mix together the olive oil, vinegar, grated lemon rind, 1 tbsp of the lemon juice and the basil. Mix well. Add this to the yogurt along with the salt and pepper, tomatoes and mozzarella. Mix well and let it stand until the pasta has cooked.
Drain the pasta thoroughly and toss with the yogurt mixture. Serve immediately garnished with a few fresh basil leaves.