What's For Dinner Wednesday: Warm Marinated Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta Salad

Today's recipe is the next in a series of summer salad recipes on A Squared this week: This marinated tomato & mozzarella pasta salad is really easy and makes for a perfect light summer dinner!

Pasta salad is one of my go to dinners in the summer. It's satisfying but not heavy. More often than not it is served cold or at room temperature-- because you know you don't need to be preheating an oven when it's 87 outside! And you can use pretty much any ingredient you've got in your fridge. This pasta salad, for instance, was a perfect way to use up the remaining slices of heirloom tomatoes I had leftover after making another delicious salad... coming your way tomorrow!

A quick marinade of the tomatoes ahead of time gives them amazing deep flavor-- and the mixture doubles as a dressing for this salad. The trick here is to toss the pasta while it is still warm. The warm pasta will soak up the dressing and enjoying it while warm makes this pasta salad feel more like the main attraction than a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 shallot, very thinly sliced
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flake 
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 oz. uncooked short cut pasta *I used Barilla White Fiber Mini Penne
• 4 oz. mozzarella boccocini, sliced in half
• 10-12 basil leaves, thinly sliced 

In a large glass or ceramic bowl, combine tomatoes, shallot, olive oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well and immediately add warm pasta to the tomato mixture. Toss to combine and then stir in mozzarella and basil.

Serve immediately.