Recipe of the Week: Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil, and Tortellini Skewers

I've decided to post one recipe a week. Hopefully this will benefit anyone who reads this blog by giving ya'll new ideas, but honestly I'll be doing this more for myself. I don't know about you, but I frequently find myself making the same old things. I have certain recipes that I love and know by heart, and they get a lot more table time than anything else. By posting just one recipe each week I feel like I'm pretty much guaranteeing at least a little variety in our meals (that is, after I finish posting about all the recipes I know like the back of my hand :))

This week: 

Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil, and Tortellini Skewers

What you'll need:

grape or cherry tomatoes

mozzarella cheese

fresh basil leaves

tortellini

olive oil

black pepper

What you'll do:

1. First get your tortellini started boiling, and cook for about 8 minutes (or whatever the package says). Make sure you put a little olive oil in with the water so they don't stick together. (I bought this kind at Kroger, but my favorite kind is at Costco - because they're colored, not because they taste better.)

2. This step is completely optional. Roast your tomatoes. Put them on a foil-lined pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with black pepper, and throw in the oven on broil. They won't need to be in there for long. Just turn on your oven light and watch them. They'll start wrinkling, but you don't want them to pop. *If this sounds like too much work, just don't do it*

3. Now get your cheese and basil ready. I just pulled off chunks of cheese from the block, but you can certainly be more fancy and cut it. 

I did the same thing with the basil leaves. Some were ginormous, so I just shredded them into smaller pieces by hand.

4. Put the skewers together, and enjoy!

 This seriously takes about 15 minutes. The longest part is letting the pasta boil. And it's a great (and super easy) summer time meal.

Now if you can't handle thinking about eating a tomato you're not alone. I just can't eat them either. No way they're cut, cooked, grilled - nothing. So, I put this lovely meal together for my sweet husband who LOVES tomatoes, and I ate this:

I figured it was pretty much the same thing. Homemade tomato sauce, tortellini, and fresh basil on top. :)

Happy eating,

Courtney