Ingredients:
2 lbs
plum tomatoes
1/2-oz. package fresh
basil
8 oz.
mozzarella cheese
1 tsp chopped
garlic
2 tsp
lemon juice
4 cups tri-color twisty
pasta
salt
pepper
Preparation:
Cook pasta. Drain and set aside. Blanch tomatoes (put them in boiling water for two minutes, then put them in ice water to cool quickly). Peel skins from the tomatoes when they are cool; scoop out the seeds and dice the flesh. Chop the basil, add it to the tomatoes along with the garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cube the mozzarella and add it to the mixture. Mix in the cooked pasta and stick the whole thing in the refrigerator for a few hours.
If you want to drizzle a bit of olive oil on top of this before you serve it, it'll add a great flavor and make the salad a bit less sticky.
SOURCE: My mother's recipe file. I deleted "low-fat" from the cheese and added some olive oil. Why eat food that doesn't taste as good as it should?