Dinner Thoughts

[winterswan]

So, I want to make a pasta dinner with fresh cherry tomatoes, corn, onion, and summer squash. It seems reasonable to me if I saute all of this together, it will make a bit of a sauce. My question is whether I should add something like chicken broth to give it more of a saucy feel. I was then thinking of melting fresh mozzarella on top of everything

Comments

[nomadmwe]

Random commentary!

a) that sounds awesome.
b) My first guess (disclaimer: I am a half-assed cook at best) is that it wouldn't really be a 'sauce' as such (well, maybe a bit if there's some olive oil left when you're done cooking them) and more a "pasta with veggies in" feel. Which is, y'know, perfectly tasty.
c) I don't think it'd end up bland, especially if you toss in a little bit of spices when you're cooking the veggies.

[silvergoose]

Agreed on the spices. If you peel the tomatoes you might get a tomato sauce of sorts, but whole or halved, they'll just be sauteed veggies with the rest.

If you're going to melt mozz on top, you might want to choose herbs that make for an italian taste (basil, oregano, that sort of thing).

[ryxander]

Here's what I'd do (YMMV):

Sautee them in either butter or a butter/olive oil mix, with 2-3 cloves garlic. Add a little chicken broth, but not too much, and maybe half a lemon's worth of fresh lemon juice.

Chop up a bunch of fresh basil and a small amount of fresh parsley to toss with it at the end. I would personally go with parmegiano reggiano or asiago rather than mozzarella, myself, but that's personal taste... if you're worried about bland, you could mix a couple cheeses, maybe? Mozarella & parmegiano reggiano mix well on pizza, so why not pasta? And salt and pepper are your friends.

Just my thoughts!

[winterswan]

Thanks for the suggestions! I guess the reason that I was thinking mozzarella is that the Buffalo Mozzarella is currently on sale at Whole Foods and I rarely get it fresh. Maybe I can pick up a bit of fresh parmegiano too, though.

[foolishfire]

You could always make a side of caprese salad...sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and basil drizzled with a little bit of balsamic vinegar to go with your veggie pasta. Yummy!

[winterswan]

Sadly, Mark hates tomatoes, so the only way I can get him to eat them is if they're cooked and pretending to not be tomatoes... He still might pick them out. You might ask why we have tomatoes in the house? Well, it's CSA season! :-)

[rowan_syngwyn]

vyseryn and I start with this recipe for the tomatoes:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/everyday-italian/fusilli-alla-caprese-recipe/index.html

Shred/cut/chop the other veggies and toss them in to let their flavors come together.

[winterswan]

What a perfect place to start! Thank you! (I'm sure Mark will thank you, too. :-) )

[jatrina]

I'd probably saute garlic in olive oil with a small pat of butter, then add the veggies and season with some fresh ground pepper and a few red pepper flakes for a lil' kick. I'd be afraid of chicken broth making it too salty, but organic stuff isn't bad for that. The tomatoes should give enough juice to make it cover the pasta with the flavors I'd think!

I love mozz, especially fresh, but I find it doesn't spread well in a dish like that, if that makes sense. Though it'd prob do better if you mix it in with the veggies shortly before they're done cooking before you mix in the pasta.