Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Margarita Pasta

Margarita Pasta
Makes 4 Servings
Recipe adapted from Real Simple

10 oz. spaghetti
3 large beefsteak tomatoes, each cut into 4 thick pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz. reduced-fat mozzarella, grated
6 tsp full-fat grated parmesan
2 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp crushed red pepper
¾ cup fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving
Salt and Pepper

Heat broiler. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and return to pot. Meanwhile, arrange tomatoes into a single layer on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Season with ¼ tsp each salt and pepper. Dividing evenly, sprinkle the slices with mozzarella and parmesan. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 3 to 5 minutes. In a small saucepan, warm oil with garlic and red pepper over medium heat until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the garlic oil, basil, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve topped with tomatoes and additional basil.

Nutritional Information: 449 calories, 56 carbs, 15 fat grams and 23 protein grams.

Review: What's not to like? I'm a  huge margarita pizza fan so I figured i'd be a fan of this! The pasta really gets a lot of flavor from the garlic mix, and the tomatoes came out super juicy and cheesy. Just make sure to use large ones so you have enough surface for the cheese to go on! We thought this one reheated well, too. The tomatoes weren't as crispy, but still good, and since the pasta had so much juice with the tomatoes and "sauce' it didn't dry out, always a must for reheating! This was also a 20 minutes or less recipe for sure - and another yummy meatless dish. To reduce the calories/fat, I'd suggest using 2.5 or 3 oz. of mozzarella instead, I don't think it would be missed! I would definitely leave the olive oil at this level though.

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