A Dinner for Impatient People
If you’re like me, you hear “A watched pot never boils” and would like to slam your head against a wall. Patience may be a virtue, but it certainly isn’t mine.
As such, I don’t particularly enjoy making dinner and standing over a boiling pot of water. Give me a cupcake recipe and the 18–22 minutes to spend doing other stuff while they bake, and I’m a happy girl. But, I digress.
Normally, I’m happy to “whip up” crackers and cheese for a quick and easy dinner. Classy, I know. Classier: the plate I use.
I’m going to be such a great housewife.
But for nights when I need a real meal — and still need to save money and time — this recipe from salted chocolate is perfect. It’s my easy dinner go-to, and it was exactly what I needed to start my week off right.
Full disclosure: This wasn’t tonight’s meal — I ate too quickly to capture it!
Mozzarella Caprese Pasta
Recipe created by salted chocolate
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (8-10) oz. jar of mini mozzarella balls
- 1 container of grape (or cherry) tomatoes
- A few leaves of basil
- Extra virgin olive oil (enough to cover the dish, but don’t soak it)
- 1 box thin spaghetti
- Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, julienne chop the basil. Once pasta is cooked to al dente, drain. Add the olive oil to your liking, plus the tomatoes, mini mozzarella balls and the basil. Don’t mix together.
- Then, dish into bowls – ensure each plate has a good amount of tomatoes and mozzarella. For each bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. The cheese will start to melt over the top of the pasta and seep down.
NOTES
- My local store doesn’t carry mini mozzarella balls, so I use a block of skim mozzarella and cut it into chunks. Let’s be real here — cheese is cheese!
- Add 5-minute garlic toast (I love Pepperidge Farm’s Garlic Texas Toast) and a glass of red wine for a complete meal.
What’s your favorite dinner to create in minutes? This impatient lady would love more recipes!
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Wittyburg.com 
Man, you really love this pasta!! I must try it some day. Might I suggest skipping the chemical-laden garlic toast for homemade garlic toast? Just get a fresh baguette from the bakery, melt 1/4-1/2 stick of butter and 1/2 tsp. garlic salt in the microwave (about 15-30 seconds) and spread on the toast. Sprinkle parm all over and broil until toasted. Simple, fresh and deeevine. XO
It’s so easy to make and I usually have the ingredients on hand — hard to say no! I think homemade toast is in my near future, so thanks for the tip … surely the cheeses piled on the frozen stuff aren’t “fresh.” 😉
You will be a wonderful wife someday – the right guy just has to meet you 🙂 A quick “go to” meal for me is in the pasta family too – you can almost never go wrong with good Italian food!