This is probably my favorite pasta salad to make in the summer. Although it can be made year round, it tastes the best in the middle of summer when all the ingredients are bursting with flavor. I brought fresh tomatoes from my backyard- this year the tomatoes have been amazing. With all the rain we have had, they are red and delicious. I like to grow cherry tomatoes- I find them easier to work with because of their size. I also harvested fresh basil from the herb garden- the sweet aroma was amazing!

I cut the tomatoes and added a bit salt and minced garlic. The tomatoes macerated for a few hours on my counter and till the delicious juices came out. In the meantime, I cooked the bowtie pasta and cut up fresh mozzarella. I use fresh mozzarella all year long but somehow paired with the fresh tomatoes and basil, it tastes extra special. I added the cheese onto the warm pasta so it would slowly begin to melt and flavor it. I added the macerated tomatoes, salt and most importantly balsamic vinegar.

Balsamic vinegar is a very essential vinegar in my pantry. I love it’s sweet and tart flavor and use it for salads all the time. It is available quite inexpensively and is worth having it at home. It is yummy on fresh strawberries, especially if you make a glaze out of it.

The whole salad came together in minutes. The pasta, fresh mozzarella, basil and tomatoes with the balsamic vinegar. I topped it off with some freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.

I took the salad to a friends house and she grilled some chicken and made a green salad. We had a delicious white wine with it and life was good!
read more …