Marco’s Fuscilli

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This is a quick, easy pasta dish I created several years ago (probably 10 or more). It’s an old favorite around the Rootsliving kitchen.

It’s great for an easy, weeknight meal and it’s quicker than ordering take-out. You can make this dish as fast as it takes you to boil a pot of water.

The first thing you do is put a good size pot of water on the stove. I use this pasta pot with built-in strainer. It makes boiling and serving pasta hassle-free and safer. And you can even steam vegetables at the same time. It’s one of my favorite kitchen utensils.

While the water heats up, cut the grape tomatoes in half, put them in a bowl and add the other ingredients.

Tomatoes in a bowl — I use grape tomatoes because here in the Northeastern part of the U.S. you can’t get good tasting tomatoes year round. These are always sweet and good.

Once the water comes to a boil, put the fuscilli in and cook it until it’s al dente, which means “to the tooth” in Italian. That means cook it until it’s still a little firm when you bite into it. With dried fuscilli, this could take about 10 minutes. With fresh fuscilli, it will only take a minute or two.

Marinated mozzarella balls — I usually use a knotted bar of marinated mozzarella and cut it up but when I can’t find that, I use marinated mozzarella balls.

You then put the fuscilli in a bowl and while it’s still piping hot, add the mozzarella cheese and stir. The cheese should melt into the pasta as you stir. Once it does that, add the tomato mixture and you’re done. See detailed recipe below.

Pasta in a bowl with tomatoes and mozzarella — The colors in this dish make it perfect for a holiday meal.

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Marco's Fuscilli

September 21, 2012

Difficulty: Super Easy

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This takes minutes to make but tastes like it took a lot more care.

By: Mark Micheli

Ingredients

Fuscilli (1 pound box)
Grape or cherry tomatoes (1 pint, chopped)
Fresh oregano (About 1 tablespoon
or 1/2 teaspoon if using dried oregano)
Dried basil (About 1/2 teaspoon)
Wine (A healthy splash, about 1/4 cup. I usually use red wine, but white would be fine too.)
Olive oil (About 1/4 cup)
Butter (About 1/4 – 1/2 stick)
Marinated mozzarella cheese (8 oz. It’s available at most supermarkets.

Directions

Step 1 Cook fuscilli in a large pot of salted water. Drain, put in a bowl and add butter, oil (about 1/8 cup), salt and pepper (to taste).
Step 2 Chop up tomatoes, put in a small bowl. Add olive oil (about 1/8 cup), salt, pepper, fresh oregano, and a healthy splash of wine. Mix it up.
Step 3 Add mozzarella pieces to pasta and stir, letting it melt evenly.
Step 4 Pour tomato mixture over fuscilli. Add dried basil and stir. Add salt and pepper if needed. Serve with a salad.