Fresh Mozzarella Pasta Salad

Awesome and so easy! Since other reviewers said this was too bland, I just mixed the orzo, mozzarella, vine ripe tomatoes, and fresh basil with a little Italian dressing. Worked like a charm. Didn't need the red pepper, olive oil, or anything else, but make sure the mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil are fresh!! Otherwise, there isn't any point of making this type of dish. Very good salad!

The simple, beautiful and fresh Caprese salad is perfection on a plate in my view. Vine-ripened tomatoes, just-picked basil, and fresh mozzarella (the colors of the Italian flag) is a flavorful combination. Orzo, which we typically used as soup pasta as I grew up, has gained enormous popularity in delis and homes everywhere as a side dish, be it hot, cold or room temperature. It would seem, then, that pairing the orzo with the Caprese would be a match made in heaven. But while hubs and I did enjoy this, we both felt it fell a little short of perfection, needing something we couldn't quite put our fingers on. Lemon juice maybe? I did leave out the red pepper flakes, and had I included it I think a teaspoon would be WAY overkill. Tip: Basil oxidizes and turns black quickly after cutting. I found that coating it with a little olive oil first helps prevent that! This was definitely a decent pasta salad, but I think maybe I just prefer my Caprese salad straight up!

MMM...this is one of my favorite recipes! We take it to all of our summer events. Yum, yum. Add pine nuts for a little twist.

I was looking for a pasta salad made with Orzo and came across this one... Just completed making it but on advice of others added the juice of 1 lemon to the olive oil as well as cracked pepper and sea salt.... The dressing was so, so good! I decided as well to add chopped red onion and toasted pine nuts... the result.... DELICIOUS! Thanks so much for sharing!

We all liked this salad, but like others, thought it needed something more. Next time I'm going to try adding some lemon juice and some minced garlic.

I thought that this was an overall great recipe. Sure, it may lack some flavor but that can easily be fixed by adding an extra sprinkle of salt and/or pepper or some garlic pepper. The first time I made this I used a marinated mozzarella cheese from Trader Joes. It was marinated with red pepper flakes and olive oil. The second time I just used regular fresh mozzarella. I like to cut mine into small squares and I use roma tomatos. I made this several times and it makes a great light side dish.

I made it the night before and while it was okay, I think it would be better to make it fresh and serve it immediately. I also found it a little bland so I served it with Balsamic vinegar and that gave it a lot more flavor. Otherwise it was excellent.

Nice light salad perfect for summer. After cooking I rinsed the orzo in cold water and served at room temp. If orzo is still warm the cheese begins to melt and it gets clumpy. Start with 1/2-2/3 of the red pepper then add to taste. I also added a little garlic and pepper as well.

Made with penne pasta, wonderful simple & easy!

This is a great salad. I added the juice of about half a lemon. It definitely needed a little something extra. The salad is easy to make, looks great and tastes great. Agree with other reviewers that it should be served relatively fresh, as the basil will stop looking fresh after a day or so.

I did not have red pepper flakes, so I added McCormick's Italian Herb Grinders seasoning on my serving. I feel this gave the recipe the added flavor others say this recipe is missing.

With a few changes this was delicious! I added chives (or just the top of the green onion) and about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette. I also took the advice of rubbing the basil leaves with olive oil before chopping them so they would retain color better. A little salt helps as well.

After tweaking this recipe a bit it made a very light & enjoyable side dish. Based on a Caprese type salad, it is missing the common balsamic vinegar and garlic. A traditional Caprese doesn't use these ingredients but the addition of pasta really compels it to avoid the blandness. I used extra virgin olive oil and added 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper and 3 large cloves crushed/minced garlic. I subbed tomato-basil seasoned Feta cheese (since it was on sale). I let the salad rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours to give flavors a chance to meld and intensify (an hour would have been fine). The red pepper flakes need time to develop properly otherwise it is pointless to use. My husband and I will definitely make it again.

Pretty good. Tastes very refreshing and fresh. Needs a little more spice or just a little more something. The amount of basil doesn't complement overcome the plainness/blandness of the orza. Though, I didn't use the crushed red pepper flakes (which might as well solve this problem) because I can't stand anything spicy!

This salad went over well. I made one change. I used Italian Seasoning in place of the red pepper flakes. Next time I will double the basil. I think that will bring it closer to perfection. Might add more Italian Seasoning also.

Awesome salad. This was a big hit and can be served with anything, chicken steak and fish.

love this,, I sometimes add some fresh lemon or lime juice for a little more zing..

Great! Tastes very fresh! Reminds me of summer.

While it was a good idea, I had to add tons of balsamic dressing, italian dressing, garlic powder and seasoned salt to keep this dish from being bland. Next time I will make a pesto to replace the plain basil. Good, but needs a lot of adjustments.

This was wonderful! Love the orzo.

Per other reviewers, I added 2 T of balsamic dressing to the salad in hopes of adding flavor. This salad was okay. Nothing special. It was a nice way to use basil from my garden but mozzarella is expensive and I'm not sure I'd make it again.

We all loved this salad. It is my new favorite and I know it will be used over and over this summer when tomatoes show up in the garden. Very fresh tasting, extremely fast, and a great side to serve with so many main dishes. Very happy to have found this one. Thanks for sharing!

I made this salad on the 4th of July for a family picnic. It got mixed reviews-some loved it, some said okay and some just didn't like it. "Too spicy, not spicy enough, too bland, very tasty, liked the orzo, change the noodle..." You get the drift. I liked it personally so when I make it again, I will try it with different noodles, use McCormick Italian spices instead of red pepper as someone suggested and take it from there. What I loved was the fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato. Based on the comments of family and friends, I probably should give this 3 stars as an average but since I am the one rating this and I happened to like it, I am giving it 4 stars!

I substituted the basil for mint and added a splash of basalmic vinegar. It made a great summer potluck salad.

This was delicious! Both my fiance and I enjoyed it very much! I let it sit in the fridge for only a short time before serving.

Has great potential, but the red pepper was just too much! If I make it again, I'll leave out the red pepper, and maybe add italian dressing like other reviews mentioned.

Very fresh and a great way to use the basil I grow every summer. Only a 4 b/c it was just a little bland but the freshness made up for that. Will make again.

In place of fresh tomatoes I used sun-dried tomatoes and the oil from their jar. It made a very light and colorful side dish to take to a Labor Day BBQ. I appreciated how truly quick and easy it was!

Very good! I overcooked the pasta but it was still yummy. I also added a bit of parmesan cheese over the top.

This was a wonderful light salad. I made it as is but added lemon juice, extra salt and pepper to taste. I used the full tsp of crushed red pepper, it was warm but not overly spicey. I grow my own basil and used a variety of basil "flavors".

Was really bland, even after adding more spices.

Bland...i had to dress it up a lot. Ok base, but needs work

I thought it was good but like all the other reviewers, it needed something. I added some lemon juice and garlic powder. It still tasted a bit bland. I would make it again though. Maybe a little italian salad dressing would do the trick.

This was so-so. My fiance and I grilled out with family today. I made two salads to accompany our brats and Italian sausages. Not wanting heavy, mayonnaise-laden salads, this seemed to be the perfect complement. While I liked this, I can't agree with Naples34102 more. I like my caprese straight up! This was a little too bland for my liking (but my fiance and his bros seemed to like it...). I'd like to try this again, but maybe with mozzarella marinated in Italian dressing / seasonings or with Italian dressing in lieu of the EVOO and red pepper flakes (the pepper, while not awful, seemed out of place to me...). My only chage was to add a little more than 1/4 c. of basil (I can't seem to get enough of the stuff!) and the juice of half a lemon, simply because I had it on hand. All in all, this was a good salad, but not one that I'd jump out of my seat to make again soon. We'll see how this tastes tomorrow (maybe that will change my tune???). Thanks anyways, Meghan! :-)

I made this recipe as directed initially but like others I felt like it need something extra. I added roasted red pepper dressing and it was delicious, certainly a nice change from the traditional pasta salad. Next time I would use a little more fresh basil.

I liked the flavors of this dish as written. I made it again and added sliced black olives and chopped turkey pepperoni. YUM!

Delicious! Made it exactly as the recipe calls, and it is wonderfully fresh and yummy.

I used this recipe as a base to my pasta salad. I added a little garlic and balsamic vinegar. I also did not put in the red pepper because I was taking it to a potluck and there was a chance kids might eat it.

Exellent sumertime treat! I did not change a thing!

I made this for a party that my cousin was having. The only thing I did differently was I sauteed fresh garlic in the olive oil and allowed to cool. Then, I followed the recipe. I also used some type of curly pasta instead of the orzo because it's what I had. By the time I was leaving the party, there was about 2 servings left and though I had no intention of taking it home (only wanted my container) my aunt snapped at me and told me not to take the rest because more people were coming over. I took that as a compliment.:-) Thanks for the recipe!!

Too plain

Fresh and tasty, and easy to throw together. I made as directed, but felt it needed something. When I ate this for lunch, I added a drizzle of a balsamic glaze, which really elevated this!

Like others, I felt this needed some beefing up to make it a tastier salad. I doubled the basil and red pepper, and added about 2 Tbsp. of balsamic vinaigrette. Also, the next time I make it, I will probably increase the fresh mozz. to 2 cups. It seemed to get lost in all the orzo. Overall, a good side dish and easy to make ahead of time!

Like several others, I made some changes. I left out the red pepper flakes, but also added about 1 to 2 cups of steamed broccoli florets and a couple tablespoons of aged balsamic vinegar. I used one Rutgers tomato and one Heirloom tomato from our garden along with fresh picked basil. It was the perfect summer side dish. Next time I might add a little pepperoni for a slight kick. This dish is a winner!

Realizing.it could use more flavor, I added balsamic glaze. Perfect. Also cut down on the red pepper.

Used grape tomatos I had. I made a Vinaigrette instead of just using olive oil. Vinaigrette was 3tb olive oil, 2 tb balsamic vinegar, 1 tb honey, splash of lemon, salt and pepper. We loved how it came out! I also didn't add all the orzo i cooked - up to your preferences what ratio you like.

I added roasted butternut squash to give it some color and flavor and it was awesome.

The recipie as is, is a little bland. A very good base to go with.!

Fast, simple pasta salad. Is best made fresh.

Great salad! My husband ask me to make a pasta salad for work, so I pick out this one. It was a hit!

DOUBLE YUM!!!

Light and fresh! I used fresh lime basil from my garden and added a touch of pepper. Perfect!

This was wonderful, I would not change a thing! Had with baby back ribs on the grill

This to almost too easy to make and so easy to dress up if you want to. The original recipe is a hit at my house and I just love it. It's definitely a keeper.

We LOVE this salad! It is so simple to put together and has such a fresh taste to it. I also love that it doesn't use any type of vinegar, just olive oil. I did reduce the pepper flakes to 1/2 teaspoon because the little guy was eating it, but other than that I kept the recipe as is. This is definately going into the regular rotation! Thanks for sharing. :)