Here's my favorite pasta salad recipe. Easy and truly wonderful. But you must be sure that the tomatoes are ripe and not watery, and that the cheese is acceptable.
Ingredients:
1 pound dead ripe pear-shaped tomatoes. Get San Marzano if you can, but they're hard to find in this country. Canned won't work.
Three handfuls oil-cured black olives, or to taste. They can be pitted or not. If not, warn the people you feed the dish to to watch out for pits.
One ball mozzarella, cut in half inch cubes. This needs to be fresh, or fairly fresh, cheese, not the rubbery stuff they sell at the supermarket. You can get decent mozzarella at Trader Joe's, and it's not very expensive. You can also get really good mozzarella da bufala in specialty shops, but it's outrageiously expensive. I really don't know why. Mozzarella isn't aged, and it's easy to make. In Italy, a regular-sized ball, sold in brine, costs about 75 cents.
Worcestershire sauce
Good extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Small bunch of fresh basil or fresh marjoram. I like using marjoram because it has an unusual flavor, but basil is fine. Or you could use a combination.
About 300, well, maybe 350, grams of penne or mezze penne rigate.
Peel the tomatoes: plunge them into boiling water for about 15 seconds, drain in a colander, and chill with cold water. The skins will come right off. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and seed them. Cut into half-inch pieces and put in a large bowl.
Add the cubed mozzarella and the olives. Mix together. Add four or five shots of Worcestershire, salt to taste (be careful; the olives are salty), and about three tablespoons olive oil. Mix again and let stand for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
By now there'll be quite a lot of liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Drain most of it off, and add another three tablespoons or so of olive oil.
Now cook the pasta al dente. Drain in a colander, and chill briefly with cold water. When it's no longer hot, add to the sauce in the bowl. Add the basil and/or marjoram. Taste for seasoning and balance of ingredients.
Let stand another half hour or so for the pasta to absorb some of the sauce. Enjoy. Good by itself or with some crusty bread.
