Rigatoni Caprese with Olives and Mozzarella
Since our first heady days packing up recipes in Patrick’s living room, our enthusiastic Head Chef has whipped up well over 500 recipes. The other day we did a bit of research and it turns out there’s a big trend in his recipes towards all things Italian. It’s no wonder though - he spent six months travelling from Sicily to Milan filming a show about their food and discovered the delicious simplicity of their cooking. The mozzarella in tonight’s recipe is one of our star ingredients - sourced from the heart of the Campania region in Italy, you’re going to love it too!
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
2
Garlic Clove
½
Onion
2
Black Olives
½
Oregano
1
Chopped Tomatoes
1
Tomato Puree
200
Rigatoni Pasta
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
½
Basil
1
Mozzarella
(Contains Milk)
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Boil a large pot of water with ¼ tsp of salt. Peel and very finely chop the garlic. Peel the onion, chop in half through the root and then slice into thin half moon shapes. Chop the olives up into tiny bits. Pull the oregano leaves from their stalks and finely chop the leaves.
Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan on medium heat. Once warm, add the garlic and onion and cook gently for around 5 mins. You want to cook the onion until it is soft, but don’t let it colour too much. Tip: You can add 1 tbsp of water and turn the heat down if it’s cooking too quickly.
Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, chopped olives and oregano to your pan. Stir in ¼ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of sugar (if you have some). Allow to bubble gently on medium-low heat for around 10 mins.
Cook the pasta in the boiling water for around 11 mins or until ‘al dente’. Tip: ‘Al dente’ simply means that the pasta is cooked through but has a slight hint of firmness left in the middle. Test for ‘doneness’ as you go until it is just right.
When you drain your pasta save a few tbsp of the pasta water before you do so. Tip: Italians often use a bit of pasta water to loosen up the tomato sauce a little - stir a bit through your sauce if needs be.
Roughly chop half the bunch of basil leaves (keep a little back for garnish) and stir them through your pasta sauce, together with your drained pasta, then toss all your ingredients together.
Serve with a scattering of chopped basil leaves and tear over chunks of the mozzarella. Add a pinch of freshly ground pepper and get stuck in.
