Caprese Pasta Bowls

Happy Monday!

A couple weeks ago, a friend and I had a girls' night/watercolor painting lesson/hang out and drink wine night. We wanted to cook something that would be a good sit-on-the-couch-and-eat while drinking our wine kind of dinner. If you've ever had one of those days... So she suggested Caprese Pasta Bowls. Any dish that involves pasta and cheese ALWAYS sounds good to me. They were perfect! When I recreated the dish for dinner at home the next week, I added some leftover diced chicken I had grilled the night before, so it would meet the "meat for dinner" criteria we have in our household :) But it was definitely just as great without the meat! Either way, this comes together in less than 30 minutes and will definitely go on the weeknight meal list in our house!

Caprese Pasta Bowls

Cheese!

This dish comes together so quickly too. By the time the pasta is finished, the sauce and toppings are ready to go. Start with any short cut of pasta you like. I prefer the ditalini for this dish, since they are the perfect size for scooping a big spoonful at once. Follow the directions on the package for your pasta! 

Tiny! You get to eat a million of them in one serving, always a plus...

While you're waiting on your pasta, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Once it's hot, add 3-4 cloves diced garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds - 1 minute, only until the garlic is fragrant. Garlic burns quickly, so don't let it get brown! Next add 4 diced Roma tomatoes to the skillet, and stir them in to the garlic.
I had some of these guys on hand I needed to use as well, so they went in to the skillet too :) This is one of those recipes where you can definitely adjust the amount of tomatoes and garlic to taste!

While the tomatoes are saucing it up in the skillet, cube 2 oz fresh mozzarella and chop a few leaves of basil. Cheese. And basil. How could you not want to make this right away??? Set them aside for now!

Who knew cheese and basil were so photogenic?

When the pasta is done to your preference, drain, and add to the skillet with the tomatoes and garlic. Once the tomato and pasta are mixed well, scoop into a bowl and top with the cheese and basil. If you dump the cheese directly into the skillet, you get melty sauce, instead of little squishy cubes mixed throughout your bowl. Which are better in this case :)

Caprese Pasta Bowls
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Short cut pasta (I prefer ditalini here!)
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic, diced
4 diced Roma tomatoes (definitely add 2ish more if you're a tomato lover)
2 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed
6 leaves fresh basil, chopped

Directions:

1. Follow directions on pasta for 2 servings. 
2. Heat olive oil in skillet on medium until shimmering and hot. Add garlic, sautéing just until fragrant but not browned, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
3. Add diced tomatoes and juices to skillet and season with salt. Reduce heat to a simmer.
4. Combine cooked pasta with tomatoes in skillet. Scoop into bowls and add 1 oz mozzarella and half the chopped basil to each bowl. Enjoy!