Caprese Pasta with Broccoli

Sometimes the best pastas can be those made without sauce. By slowly cooking some vegetables in olive oil on the stove top, maybe adding a splash of white wine if you have any already open, the veggies become their own sort of sauce. If you choose vegetables that have a high water content, like tomatoes or zucchini, you can get a pretty full sauce and your pasta will be delicious.

When you don’t add sauce to pasta, it also means that your leftovers become a fantastic pasta salad for the next day. If you think about it, the pasta just continues to marinate, soaking up more flavor the longer you leave it. Two (plus) meals in one.

I chose to make this one based on a caprese salad (mozzarella, tomato and basil) but added some broccoli for more umph. You could also try adding some zucchini, squash, or even eggplant.

Caprese Pasta (salad) with Broccoli

1 box penne or fusilli pasta

1 package cherry tomatoes

1 bunch of broccoli OR one bag of pre-cut broccoli florets

1 bunch basil leaves

3 lemons

1 ball fresh mozzarella

Olive oil

¼ cup dry white wine (optional)

½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Parmesan (optional)

Swish some olive oil around in a pan and turn on medium heat. 

Add the tomatoes (I cut some in half and left others whole), then the broccoli, then about ¾ of the basil. 

Cut 2 of the lemons in half, squeeze the juice in the pan and add the halves (to give more flavor). On one of the lemons cut off about 2 tsp of the rind and cut into very thin strips and then add to the pan. Add some wine, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and allow to simmer about 20 mins, or until the tomatoes are bursting.

Boil a pot of water, add salt and pasta and cook through.

When the pasta is cooked, add it to the pan of cooking vegetables and stir so that the pasta is coated in the sauce.

Cut the mozzarella into cubes and add to the pasta.

I then added a dressing to my pasta. You don’t have to do this, but I chose to add it for even more flavor – and to make it even more like a caprese salad. So combine about 1/3 cup olive oil with about 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar and season vigorously with s and p. Stir and then pour over the warm pasta salad.

Try adding grilled chicken if you want.

Garnish with more strips of basil and a lemon wedge.