Cold Caprese pasta, a simple first course, quick and tasty with few fresh ingredients, excellent served warm or cold. The Cold Caprese Pasta is a quick summer pasta inspired by the delicious Caprese salad like the Caprese bruschette, and combines fresh flavors and simple ingredients in a single light, flavorful dish. Ripe fresh and firm tomatoes, fiordilatte or buffalo mozzarella, high-quality extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil, with a touch of oregano, are the main ingredients of our cold Caprese pasta, they are easy to find so let’s go to the kitchen.

To make the Caprese pasta salad use preferably short pasta like fusilli or extruded penne; I had the Vesuvio shape and used that. Cook it al dente and then cool it at room temperature, then add the dressing and serve. This dish is perfect for beach trips or day outings, for picnics and excursions, ideal as a light and tasty lunch especially during the warm summer days — you’ll fall in love at first bite! Let’s discover the recipe for Caprese pasta salad with tomato and mozzarella, but before we get to the stove I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my other recipes, you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile.

Also see:

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very inexpensive
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Portions: 4
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer and Autumn

Ingredients to make cold Caprese pasta

12 oz pasta
7 oz fiordilatte (or buffalo mozzarella)
14 oz tomatoes (round red, beefsteak or cherry tomatoes)
to taste salt
to taste extra virgin olive oil
to taste basil

Tools

Pot
Bowl

Preparation of cold Caprese pasta

Bring a pot full of lightly salted water to a boil and meanwhile prepare the ingredients you will need to dress the pasta. Rinse the tomatoes — they should be ripe, fresh and firm — dry them and pat them with kitchen paper, cut them into quarters, remove the seeds and the juiciest part, then dice them.
Collect them in a bowl along with the mozzarella cut into cubes, salt and oregano.
Cook the pasta, drain it al dente and dress it with a good drizzle of oil. Let it cool or warm slightly and add the dressing. Mix and finish with a bit more oregano and basil, serve warm or at room temperature.
If you want to prepare the pasta in advance, store it in the fridge and enjoy it cold, or better let it acclimate for half an hour at room temperature before serving. Garnish with toasted pine nuts in a pan and basil.