Grilled Green Tomato Pasta Caprese

I love growing tomatoes every year.  Tomatoes bought at the grocery store just aren't the same as the ones that you grow yourselves.  This year I grew more tomatoes than usual, which I loved because we got to enjoy lots of yummy recipes with our tomatoes.  As the weather is getting cooler, I started to notice that my tomato plants still had quite a bit of tomatoes on them but they weren't ripening-they were staying green!  With the threat of frost coming, I would hate to see them go to waste.  So, thanks to google, I read about fried green tomatoes-I actually had no idea that fried green tomatoes were actually made from under-ripened tomatoes!  Looking back on it, I don't know what I thought they were!   Since I had some basil left as well, I decided a pasta dish was in order.  This was an excellent dinner-light and healthy-and I loved that I got to use up some tomatoes and basil that otherwise would have been thrown away!

 Grilled Green Tomato Pasta Caprese

1/2 cup olive oil 

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt

1-2 pounds green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 2 lb.)

16 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese

 1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

1 pound pasta (I used rigatoni)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, brown sugar and Kosher salt in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; add tomatoes, seal, and shake gently to coat. Chill 1 hour. Alternatively, allow tomatoes to marinate in the mixture in a bowl.

Meanwhile, cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.  Drain pasta and set aside to allow it to come to room temperature.

Preheat grill. Remove tomatoes from marinade, and reserve the marinade. Grill tomatoes, 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until tender and grill marks appear. If using smaller tomatoes, place tomatoes on top of foil when grilling so they don't fall through.

In a large serving bowl, combine pasta, reserved marinade, mozzarella and basil. Toss to combine.  Gently fold in the grilled tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper and more basil, if desired.  Can be served slightly warm, at room temperature or cold. 


Source: Inspired by Southern Living