What foods can you not get enough of in the summer? For me this year, it’s tomatoes. Caprese, bruschetta, gazpacho, tomato soup, I love it all. While I love all things tomato, caprese has a special place in my heart. Or stomach, if we are being literal. Turkey burger looks boring? Add a caprese topping. Need to liven up plain pasta? Caprese!

Zucchini is another favorite summer food. I particularly love zoodles. If you don’t own a spiralizer, high end grocery stores will sell packaged spiralized zucchini. In my area (Metro Detroit), you can find zoodles in the produce section of Fresh Thyme stores. If no pre-spiralized zucchini is to be found and you don’t want to buy a new spiralizer, you can try thrift shops. Undoubtedly, someone had bad memories of a 2010s keto diet mid-pandemic and Mari Kondo’d a spiralizer out of her life. (While I love zoodles, they cannot pass as a replacement for wheat pasta. They are their own thing to be appreciated on their own merits.)

Also, if you have all the ingredients in your kitchen but the tortellini, you can make this with regular pasta. The cheese tortellini just kicks it up a notch. Also, if you don’t have or can’t find white balsamic vinegar, feel free to use regular balsamic. It won’t be as pretty, but the taste will be equally good.

This is the first recipe in my food and rosé pairing series. If you want to learn more about pairing rosé with food, please see this post.

Tortellini Caprese Salad with Zoodles
Servings: 4 entree or 8 side salad portions
Difficulty: Easy
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  Wine pairing: rosé.

Ingredients
One 10 oz package cheese tortellini
Two medium zucchini, spiralized
12 oz tomatoes chopped
¼ cup basil, chopped finely
8 oz fresh mozzarella, chopped (or use mozzarella pearls)
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Balsamic glaze to top (optional)
Directions
Cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain tortellini and rinse with cold water.
While tortellini are cooking, prep the next four ingredients and combine in a large bowl.
Add cooled tortellini, white balsamic vinegar, and olive oil to the bowl. Mix thoroughly and salt to taste.
Serve with freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.