Caprese Tagliarini

After a trip to Carraba's Italian Grill a few months ago I have been searching for a type of pasta we had.  I do this a lot, try something new then search endlessly until I can find it, and cook it at home.  I finally came across the pasta. Tagliarini.

I wanted a very thin chunky sauce to go with the pasta. I love cooking with no real recipe in mind. Just kinda shooting from the hip. The idea was to have a caprese salad in a sauce.  I sauteed some onions, mushrooms and garlic in extra virgin olive oil.  Then added a couple cans of diced tomatoes. Then into the sauce went a little salt, Italian seasoning, a bay leaf, and sugar.  To balance out the sweetness from the sugar and tomatoes I added a little crushed red pepper.  I let it simmer for about 15 minutes while we sat on the porch and enjoyed the weather.  Upon returning indoors, the smell was intoxicating.  A good sign of a great sauce in the making.

Nothing goes better with a pasta dish than garlic cheese bread.  While on our trip to the coast we stopped by  Sweet Home Cheese Farm and picked up some of their garlic gouda cheese. I sliced some Italian bread from the local Publix bakery, added some butter and the cheese.  Then into the broiler.

After the noodles were drained I put them in a bowl.  Then topped them with some fresh basil and diced mozzarella.  Then I added the sauce on top, and tossed.  I didn't want the basil to cook, just warm up.

The sauce had a great fresh taste.  The basil barely wilted, and the mozzarella slightly melted so the chunks were a great surprise every few bites.  The cheese bread was toasted on top, and soft on the bottom, just the way I like it. This was a successful attempt to get the flavors I wanted in the sauce.  I love when that happens.