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 