pasta with tomato, spinach and mozzarella

I used farfalle to make this delicious and super easy pasta recipe with spinach and fior di latte mozzarella. The sauce takes the same amount of time to make as it takes to boil the pasta, so its kind of ideal to do for a quick midweek vegetarian supper. The cheese melts into the other ingredients creating those delectable long strands as you eat, and it feels like a warm Caprese salad with silky pasta and spinach.

The other reason I made this pasta was that it so colourful and I’m here today to celebrate colour and wine in all its glory. You might wonder what colour has to do with wine? Well, that is the fun part.

The particular wine is Place in the Sun, a range of proudly South African and Fairtrade Wines sourced from the best-growing regions and created in the spirit of joy and optimism for the future. They are all about uplifting the people and communities that make the wine. Happy people = better wine.

Place in the Sun wines are characterful and express a spirit of optimism and joy (time to party, yes?). The range includes an Unwooded Chardonnay (this is what I used in this recipe and what I drank with this recipe), Sauvignon blanc, Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet blanc. Bold and rich in varietal character, they are easy to drink (very) refreshing and soft on the palate. The accessibly priced wines are made in the cellar of Zonnebloem wines under the hand of Cellarmaster Deon Boshoff.

I’m giving away 2 sets of double tickets to the festival. 2 tickets for Cape Town, and 2 tickets for Jozi.  You just need to enter here with a comment on this post. Say something nice, AND (this is important to do) tell all your friends on Twitter and FB about this awesome giveaway. Share, tweet, like etc. if you don’t do this I can’t take your entry seriously. Seriously. 

Wear white and go and have fun.

Otherwise make this recipe, its delicious:

pasta with tomato, spinach and mozzarella

Print Recipe

Prep Time:5 minutes mins

Cook Time:20 minutes mins

Total Time:25 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 250 g farfalle pasta or other short pasta of your choice
• 1 small red onion or half a large
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 tins of peeled tomatoes
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 small stock cube crumbled (chicken or vegetable)
• a good pinch of dried chilli flakes or two
• 6-8 basil leaves chopped
• 200 g baby spinach leaves or chopped spinach (chard)
• 150 g net weight ball of buffalo mozzarella (fior di latte)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black or white pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve

Instructions

• Bring a large pot of salty water to the boil and cook the pasta to al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, heat a non-stick frying pan and add the olive oil.
• Fry the onions over a low heat until softened. Add the garlic and briefly cook. Add the tomatoes, wine, stock cube, chilli and basil and cook until the sauce has thickened.
• At around the time the pasta is cooked, add the spinach to the sauce and stir it around until it is completely wilted. If necessary add about ¼ cup of the pasta water to loosen the sauce.
• Add the cooked and drained pasta and coat it in the sauce.
• Break the mozzarella ball up into small chunks and add this to the pasta dish. Allow this it soften and melt and then serve immediately with grated Parmesan and a chilled glass of Place in the Sun Unwooded Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

* NB ~ this is a sponsored advertorial post

I look forward to connecting with you again in the future.

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