The Food Diaries

Pugliese pasta with chard, tomatoes and mozzarella

I used the little cavatelli pasta shape in this recipe, but other short pasta shapes will do nicely.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In the meantime, slice up the leaves of a few stalks of swiss chard (finely chop the stalks). Add a good glug of olive oil to a pan and drop in the leaves and stir fry. Add 3 finely chopped garlic cloves and continue frying till the leaves have wilted nicely.

Meanwhile, drop 300g cavatelli pasta into the boiling water and cook according to package instructions (around 8 minutes). Meanwhile, deseed and chop 3 ripe tomatoes and tear apart a buffalo mozzarella ball into chunks. Set aside.

To assemble, drain the cooked past of most (but not all) of its pasta water and add the swiss chard, tomatoes and mozzarella. Add 2 tbs fresh pesto (optional) and stir till well-combined.

Serve with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan.

Serve 2-3.

Stuffed tomatoes with mozzarella

Slice off the tops of 4 medium-sized tomatoes (try to keep the stems intact) and set aside. Scoop out the insides of the tomatoes and chop up the pulp. Place in a bowl along with shreds of mozzarella from a 125g buffalo mozzarella ball. Sprinkle in around 125ml/1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I like Japanese panko for its crispy consistency), along with some chopped basil and 1tbs olive oil. Mix well and then stuff back into the tomatoes. Put the “hats” back on, place in a roasting dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place in a hot oven (200c) and bake for around 25 minutes.

Sprinkle some more basil inside the tomatoes shells before serving. Serves 4.

Tomato and mozzarella pennette

I like creamy tasting pasta, but without the heaviness of cream so I quite like this recipe which marries the tartness of the tomatoes with the creaminess of the mozzarella (and these days it is quite easy to find low-fat versions).

Bring a pot of water to the boil. In the meantime, heat 1 tbs olive oil in a largish pan (large enough to hold the pasta) with 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped. Add 400g of either fresh or canned tomatoes (if using fresh peel and de-seed them first*) and a small handful of basil leaves. Cook until the tomatoes thicken into a sauce. If using fresh tomatoes you can stir in 1 tbs tomato concentrate at this point. While the sauce is cooking cook 250g pennette (or penne) pasta in the boiling water till al dente. 

Just before the pasta has finished cooking, finish up with the sauce by seasoning with some salt and pepper and adding 60g chopped fresh mozzarella, stirring till it melts into the sauce. Turn off the heat.

Drain the pasta and transfer to the sauce pan. Toss over low heat till well combined. Sprinkle with some freshly grated Parmesan. Add some more basil leaves and serve immediately.

Serves 2.

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*These days it is quite easy to find peelers which make easy work of soft fruit and vegetables  such as this one from Lakeland or this one made especially for tomatoes by Zyliss.

Ottolenghi’s marinated buffalo mozzarella and tomato

The new Ottolenghi cookbook has finally been published!! Forget Gordon, Jamie, Heston, Delia, Nigella and co. Yotam Ottoloneghi recipes are all you need if you like to cook simple, fresh, vibrant and modern dishes - mostly all of a vegetarian inclination. He has a way of elevating vegetables and pulses to new heights of respect within the cooking repertoire.

Here’s my first recipe attempt from Plenty (available at Amazon) and what a simple, yet refreshing take it is on the traditional mozzarella and tomato salad:

Dry fry 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds till they start to pop. Crush in a mortar and pestle. Now add one garlic clove, peeled and crush. Mix in a small handful of shredded basil leaves (around 15), 2 tsp chopped oregano, the grated zest of 1 lemon (I substituted orange rind and the results were brilliant!), 2 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp rapeseed oil, 1/2 tsp Maldon sea salt. Mix in 250g buffalo mozzarella broken by hand into chunks. Set aside for 10-15 minutes. Cut 2 ripe tomatoes into wedges (cherry tomatoes will do just as well) and plate up along with the marinated mozzarella. Drizzle with extra olive oil and season with freshly ground pepper.

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BLACK AND WHITE QUINOA SALAD >