Penne alla Caprese

Ever since I was little, my parents have made pesto pasta for dinner and it is one of my favorite dinners. Sometimes we have it with shrimp and sometimes we have it with chicken-- it depends on the occasion or what we are in the mood for that day. When I was about about 10 years old, I watched an episode of 'Everyday Italian' with Giada De Laurentiis where she made a dish she called Fusilli alla Caprese. Then, I decided to make this dish a few times and wanted to make my own rendition of it. So I put my love of pesto and the fresh tomatoes and mozzarella from Giada's recipe and made my own dish. Here is the recipe to Penne alla Caprese, I hope you enjoy it!

Pesto Sauce:

3 packed cups of basil

¼ cup pine nuts

2 cloves of garlic

½ cup Parmesan Cheese

¾ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon salt (to taste)

Other Ingredients:

1-pound penne pasta

1-cup mozzarella balls

1 cup grape tomatoes

shredded mozzarella (desired amount)

First pre heat the oven to 375, then start boiling the pasta water. Next put the basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt, and parmesan cheese into the food processor. Once the basil mixture is coarsely chopped start to add the olive oil slowly into the food processor and process until fully incorporated and smooth. 

Next cut the mozzarella and grape tomatoes in half and put into a bowl with the pesto. Drain the pasta and add to the bowl with tomatoes and mozzarella. Butter the individual gratin dishes and put the pasta into the dishes. Then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

 Finally put into the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted, Enjoy!