Recipe: Summer's Bounty Rigatoni

It’s September, not quite fall yet but you can see the days are growing shorter and before you know it, the cooler weather will set in. Over at my house, as we prepare for back to school, we also relish the last days of sunshine and ease and summer’s very best produce. As a busy mom of three, these days have me wanting easy, healthy, light meals. But, meals I can also rely on as we get back into the school week grind. Meals that celebrate the best vegetables of the season– ripe grape tomatoes, sweet corn, garden picked basil- and bring them together quickly for an easy weeknight meal.

This particular meal combines the bounty from our local garden and farms with rigatoni. You combine 5 simple ingredients together with rigatoni that’s cooked perfectly al dente, toss it with some good olive oil, a bit of white vinegar, and salt and pepper, and you’ve got a crowd pleasing meal that’s fun to make with the kids and done in no time at all. My kids have fun picking the tomatoes from our garden, tearing up the basil leaves, and sneaking tastes of the fresh mozzarella.

Like most kids, my kids love pasta. My kids also love corn and happen to love tomatoes and cheese. So, this is exactly the kind of no fuss meal that my kids will devour, and I can feel good about it because it’s healthy. Bonus: not only does this recipe require only pasta plus five basic ingredients, it can also be made in one pot! You simply bring a large pot of salted water to boil, place the the corn in it for about 4 minutes, use tongs to remove the corn then place the rigatoni in the same boiling water!

While the rigatoni cooks, you just chop up the other vegetables (just be sure the corn is cool enough to handle before you remove the kernels from the cob!) and then combine them with the cooked and cooled pasta. Add a basic olive oil and vinegar dressing, and you are done! Summer’s Bounty Rigatoni is a fast and easy fix for your back to school dinnertime dilemmas!

Summer’s Bounty Rigatoni

What You’ll Need:

1 lb. of Da Vinci rigatoni
1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved.
1 small bunch of scallions, thinly sliced
1 8 oz. container of fresh mozzarella balls, halved
4 ears of corn, cooked then kernels removed from cob
1 cup of loosely packed basil leaves, torn or sliced
1/3 cup of olive oil & 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

What To Do:

Bring a large pot of well salted water to boil. Once boiling place corn in boiling water for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, use tongs to remove the corn from the boiling water. Now, add the Da Vinci rigatoni to the boiling water and cook according to the package’s directions (approximately 11 minutes)
While the Da Vinci rigatoni cooks, chop the grape tomatoes in half, thinly slice the scallions, cut the fresh mozzarella balls in halve, and remove the kernels from the cooled corn.
Combine the olive oil and white wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
Once the pasta is cooked, strain it in a colander and run it under cool water to bring it to room temperature.
Combine the pasta with the tomatoes, scallions, corn, and fresh mozzarella. Toss it well then add the dressing and toss it again.
Finally, add the torn or sliced basil leaves. (If you’re serving this later, wait to add the basil leaves until just before serving!)