The Husband always knows when I decide that summer is just around the corner because for starters I start painting my toes and wearing sandals, but mainly because we start eating Pasta alla Checca at least three times a week. It is literally my favorite pasta in the world, it’s easy to make, it’s fast, and if the ingredients are good quality then the dish is to die for. There are many variants of this pasta, all of which are good, I’m going to share my favorite, and then you can take it from there and create your perfect version of Pasta alla Checca, because it’s one of those summer comfort foods that has to fit like your favorite pair of Manolo’s, the ones that you can walk for miles in they’re so comfortable, and yet you still look amazing.
What you need:
Well, pasta of course. I’m partial to De Cecco, which is a high quality Italian brand that you can find pretty easily in most big cities worldwide, but your favorite brand will work perfectly too! You need “short” pasta for this dish, so no spaghetti or other long pastas. I like to use fusilli (corkscrew shaped pasta), but my Mom prefers farfalle (bow shaped pasta), if you experiment a little you’ll find the perfect pasta shape for you, the one that absorbs the right amount of sauce, and that allows you to spear all the main ingredients so you can make the “perfect mouthful”.
Tomatoes, which is why I only make it in the summer, with those lovely straight from the plant tomatoes in my vegetable garden.
Fresh Mozzarella, ideally buffalo mozzarella, but regular mozzarella is fine too as long as it’s fresh. I realize this is trickier for people outside of Italy cause it’s hard to find and expensive when you do, but it really, really needs to be fresh. So do NOT, under any circumstances, substitute with other types of mozzarella (mozzarella cheese sticks are totally NOT ok) I really can’t stress this enough. If you can’t find fresh mozzarella you’re going to have to go without cheese in the dish (it’s still very, very good) and if you really can’t give up the cheese entirely then substitute with something completely different, like Feta cheese. (If my Mom actually read my blog she would have keeled over from a heart attack after that suggestion.)
Basil, just a few fresh leaves, if you can, it makes the dish positively heavenly.
Salt and oil.
