Recipe 17: Rustic Summer Crumb Pasta

I love this recipe, all the ingredients are general stock standard items in our cupboards and after creating my vegetable patch, I have tonnes of herbs available. The only thing we don't have is buffalo mozzarella, so I generally replace this with either, grated mozzarella or parmesan. Even better, (as we tend not to eat leftovers very often) the recipe serves 2.

Rustic Summer Crumb Pasta

200g Spaghetti
100g sourdough or crusty bread
8 sun-dried tomato halves
2 tsps of crushed garlic
salt and pepper
11/2 tblsp Olive Oil
1/3 cup small basil leaves
1 small buffalo mozzarella, halved
2 tblsp balsamic vinegar
extra olive oil and grated parmesan to serve.

METHOD

1. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 8-10 minutes
2. Drain and return to pan to keep warm. While the pasta is cooking, place the bread, tomato, garlic, salt and pepper and oil in a bowl of a food processer (I used the stick blender again) and process in short bursts until the mixture resembles small crumbs.
3. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the crumb mixture and cook, stirring for 4-5 minutes or until the crumbs are golden. Toss the crumbs and basil with the pasta.
4. Divide between serving bowls and top with the mozzarella. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and extra olive oil.