Seasonal summer cooking, as simple as it gets: Pasta alla Caprese

Pasta turns a classic Italian salad into a quick vegetarian meal, Pasta alla Caprese. Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil are the key ingredients. Recipe below.

caprese pasta

The thing about growing tomatoes is this. You plant them as soon as there’s no chance of frost, and then you wait. For a long time, there are no tomatoes. No tomatoes. No tomatoes. Still no tomatoes. And then one day, there are TOMATOES!!! Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, TOMATOES!!! So you find yourself looking for lots of things to do with TOMATOES!!! Continue reading “Seasonal summer cooking, as simple as it gets: Pasta alla Caprese”

A classic makeover: Ripe summer peaches freshen up Caprese Salad

For a colorful twist on the Italian classic, peaches stand in for tomatoes in this Peach Caprese Salad; a bed of mixed greens adds extra depth. Recipe below.

Peach Caprese Salad

AS MUCH AS I LIKE TO PLAY WITH MY FOOD, when it comes to salads, I usually prefer to keep them simple. More often than not, some mixed greens with a garlicky French vinaigrette or sherry Dijon vinaigrette sounds perfect to me. A friend of ours calls these stripped down efforts honeymoon salads—”Lettuce alone.” Continue reading “A classic makeover: Ripe summer peaches freshen up Caprese Salad”