Roasted Caprese Pasta

Very few things make me happier than a home cooked meal. When it comes to weekly dinners, it's been getting harder and harder. So in order to satisfy my tummy and my family, I have been making things in mass quantities so that we can enjoy them for a night or two and lunches in between. Last Sunday night, I made a large pot of spaghetti so I could have it for lunch the next day and dinner that night (I've been a little lazy in the morning and have preferred my extra 30 minutes of sleep, rather than making myself a fancy lunch.). We just happened to have a beautiful vine of tomatoes ready to be used. I, once again, was feeling lazy, so I went to a classic roasted tomato recipe I use all the time (like here and here) and finished it off with some pearls of mozzarella and some fresh basil leaves. It is light, refreshing, and with the weather we have been having lately, it didn't weigh me down, but filled me up and left me with a very happy tummy! P.S., you can make a large batch of the tomatoes and use them throughout the week! And, remember, you don't have to roast the tomatoes; I just heavily despise uncooked tomatoes (No, I don't know why...).

What you'll need:

1 vine roma tomatoes (about 8-10), roasted

1/2 cup pearl mozzarella balls (NOT THE SEASONED ONES!!! THERE WILL BE ENOUGH SEASONING ON THE TOMATOES!!!)

1/4 cup fresh basil

1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti

Kosher salt

1. Follow one my recipes for roasting tomatoes (this one works), but this time cut them into quarters (much easier to eat in a pasta dish and you don't want to cut them when they're cooked, it'll get too messy!).

2. When there is about 15 minutes left on the tomatoes boil your pasta. Drain and toss with some olive oil (so it doesn't stick to itself).

3. When the tomatoes are finished cooking, place half in the bottom of a large bowl. To that bowl, add the pasta, chopped basil, and pearls of mozzarella (if you don't have the pearls of mozzarella, you can get a log and cut it into pieces that are relative to the cooked tomatoes). Toss, but not so much that the tomatoes break up.

4. Finish with a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper, some whole basil leaves for garnish and serve immediately.

enjoy :)