Pasta With Tomato And Mozzarella

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 2
• 350 g penne pasta
• 150 g mozzarella cheese, chopped into 2cm cubes
• basil leaves, to garnish
• grated parmesan cheese, to serve (optional)
• 1 1/4 kg fresh ripe tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 12 large fresh basil leaves
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Recipe

• 1 first skin the tomatoes - put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them and leave for 1 minute, then drain and slip off their skins.
• 2 reserve 3 tomatoes for later and roughly chop the rest.
• 3 heat the oil in a medium saucepan, then add the onion and garlic and let them gently cook for 5-6 minutes, until they are softened and light golden in colour.
• 4 add the chopped tomatoes with about a third of the basil, torn into pieces and season with salt and freshly milled black pepper.
• 5 let the tomatoes simmer on a very low heat, without a lid, for about 1-1½ hours or until the tomatoes are reduced to a thick sauce, stirring now and again.
• 6 roughly chop the reserved tomatoes and stir them in, along with the rest of the torn basil leaves and take it off heat.
• 7 cook the pasta as per the package instructions.
• 8 when you are ready to eat, gently re-heat the tomato sauce and stir the cubes of mozzarella into the warm sauce and let it simmer gently for 2-3 minutes only to slightly soften the cheese (just begun to melt).
• 9 serve the sauce spooned over the drained pasta, sprinkled with the parmesan (if using) and add a few basil leaves as garnish.