Super Simple Summer Pasta Salad
serves 6

Daily cooking in the nursing facility, formerly known as my parents home, has become more of a daily chore and less an act of love and joy. I am truly sorry to share this with you, but it’s the honest truth. The cooking itself still brings me some level of peace— knowing we’re all eating nutritious food, sharing a meal and that we even have food on our table while others do not have that privilege. But in the midst of the daily to do’s and appointments— cooking has become another item to check off the list for the day, turning what I once saw as art into something rote and somewhat mechanical. It’s another responsibility.

The smell of basil, what once made me instantaneously light up and, frankly, drool, has lost its allure. As of late, when mealtime rolls around, food doesn’t taste the same, but it’s always delicious. Does that even make sense? The emotion has not been wholly removed, it’s there, lost somewhere in the chopping and between the fragments of very tiny tomato seeds— in my mother asking my father to do something for the 50th time and in the midst of slow brewing arguments. Our affection is distant—cooking that is— like a separated couple who may or may not find their way back to one another. I can only hope that we find our way back, but I don’t know when. I anticipate writing about it is a good start, cathartic to admit what I’ve lost in joy that has been replaced in function.

This very pasta salad was a staple in our home when I was growing up. It reminds me of summer dinners at Aunt Jo and Uncle Tony’s summer house. We would gather around their table—neatly set with original Corelle dinnerware and placemats that matched green on the window shades my grandmother sewed— the ones that hanged behind the table. We would eat this, together, after sticky beach days. Huddled closely together, sometimes shoulder touching shoulder depending how many of us were there— my aunt perfectly portioned every single plate. She portioned the plates with the same exacting love that she cut every single tomato— sized and poised for perfect bites. While my zest for cooking has been buried, the stories, at least, have been retained as happy moments frozen in time— that’s also the gift of food.

The preparation for the pasta salad is simple: fresh ingredients. Fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, fresh mozzarella, high quality pasta and extra virgin olive oil. The trick to achieve deep flavor from the tomatoes is to let them mingle in a small wading pool of extra virgin olive oil, salting the tomatoes so their water is released, adding the garlic and letting the mixture— or the “sauce”— sit. The longer the tomatoes linger in their generously salted, olive oil bath, the stronger their flavor. Adding the fresh basil is the final sweet kiss. Simply toss the entire mixture over boiled pasta (that you’ve passed over with cold water, this is a room temperature pasta salad) and mix in the fresh mozzarella. It’s optional to finish the dish with a little black pepper, some might add a little grated Locatelli— but I prefer to let the tomatoes speak for themselves. I don’t want, or need, extra cheese on this perfect marriage of pasta and the freshest of ingredients.

This pasta salad can be made very quickly on a weeknight. It’s also the perfect picnic or barbecue accompaniment, the ultimate make ahead meal for a busy week— or a super simple Sunday dinner that lets you sneak in macaroni without making Sunday sauce in the sweltering heat. It can be served with grilled chicken, a beautiful grilled sausage ring or shrimp that has been perfectly dressed in fresh pesto sauce (that’s one way to use the extra basil should you decide to make this). Fresh pasta salad is a effort meal that yields bold flavor— kind of like the perfect partner— easy to be around, not fussy and always reliable. This is stunning and delicious every time— even if you make it while you’re exhausted, trust me. And maybe writing this, admitting how I actually feel, has helped me find my way back to love. Well, at least, a little bit.

Super Simple Summer Pasta Salad
serves 6

Ingredients
1 lb. of pasta, your choice, but I like fusilli or gemelli, cooked al dente
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, cubed
6-8 roma tomatoes or 4 cups of cherry tomatoes, diced or cut in half if you’re using cherry tomatoes3 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed
6 leaves of basil, chiffonade (roll the leaves and slice them lengthwise to make ribbons)
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
—Boil the pasta water and while the water is boiling, begin prepping the tomatoes
—Place cut tomatoes in a bowl with garlic, salt and olive oil— toss to coat— add basil and allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes or so
—Add the pasta, cook until al dente and put aside, running cool water over the pasta so it doesn’t stick
—Allow the pasta to drain and set it aside
—Cube the mozzarella
—Toss the pasta with the tomatoes, taste for salt, add the mozzarella— toss again
—Drizzle with a little more olive oil, garnish with additional basil and finish with a few turns of freshly ground black pepper