Pasta Salad with sun-dried tomatoes
I was looking for a good Pasta Salad to serve for the “BurleyMen Club” 🙂 aka Artist Blacksmith Group of Tidewater for their monthly meeting held at Gentile Forge. I came across this Pasta Salad and thought it sounded super delicious. Sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamate olives, what a winning combination. And it was delicious!….but….I’m now thinking that it might have been the wrong type of food to serve for all those MEN. Don’t get me wrong, they liked it, but the wrong type of food nonetheless. The sun-dried tomatoes may have been too refined, too delicate and too modern. This Pasta Salad would fit-in much better at my work with all the GIRLS there. I’ll try it out there for our next potluck.
Sun-dried Tomato Dressing
If your not able to find pitted olives use a Cherry Pitter, it works great.
Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
Dressing:
7 oz Sun-dried Tomatoes in oil, drained
2 small or 1 large Garlic Clove
3 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Salad:
8 oz Spiral Pasta
20 Kalamata Olives (a good handful), sliced or chopped
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes, cut in halves
10 Basil leaves, julienned
1 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
Directions:
In a food processor combine sun-dried tomatoes (drained), garlic, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Start the food processor and add the olive oil in a steady stream. Continue blending until a homogeneous mass. Store in an airtight container for 1-3 hours or preferably until the following day to allow flavors to marry. Note: this dressing recipe makes enough for 2 pasta salads.
Cook pasta in salted water until desired consistency, rinse under cold running water and drain. Add about 1/4 of dressing to pasta and stir. Add cherry tomatoes, olives, Basil and about 2/3 cup Parmesan, stir gently. Continue to add more dressing and Parmesan cheese to your liking. Note: reserve a small amount of Parmesan for topping. Enjoy.
Source: adapted from Barefoot Contessa
My Danish Kitchen 
Such a beautiful summer salad! I could take a bowl of this any day. 🙂
Yummy! This sounds like a wonderful summer pasta salad. I love sun dried tomatoes. 🙂
The “Burley Man’s Club” AKA ABGT appreciated the delicious aroma and delicate taste of the seasonings and the greek olives. Delicious! Thanks!!!!!
Awwww thank you so much Vince 🙂
how pretty is this?? it looks awesome. love the pretty colors in here:) thank you for sharing this.
I think it’s always funny how men can sometimes prefer the most basic food rather than an elevated dish 🙂 In any case, I really love the way your pasta looks — vibrant and colorful — and I believe it must have been really delicious.
Oh what a beautiful dish of pasta 🙂 It looks so fresh and comforting 🙂
This looks so fresh and delicious!
summery pasta looks wonderful
I have that problem all the time, spoiled family. My vegetarian daughter would love it 😉
Looks yummy! I make a similar salad using orzo instead of pasta, the oil from the sundried tomatoes in the dressing, and crumbled feta cheese. How true: it’s more of a ladies dish–I could eat it as a main course but hubby wants m-e-a-t, too.
I have to try it with Orzo, sounds great!!!
Overall, I think women eat better than men. Most men are just into meat & potatoes, you rarely see them eating yogurt or salad. Glad you changed things up for those men and they enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing this lovely pasta dish.
Love the idea of this dressing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with the pureed sun dried tomatoes. Cool!
Mmmmmm….this sounds so yummy and flavorful! Beautiful pasta salad~