sundried tomato pasta salad

By gwen -
This is the first Pioneer Woman recipe I've ever made -- her stuff always looks amazing, with that unbelievable step-by-step photography that makes me want to lick the screen, but it often has a lot of butter etc. in it. But this has nothing but olive oil (your friend and mine), and it's simple and delicious. And I got to make it for Hefk when she was visiting and that was happy.

adapted from Ina Garten

Dressing (makes more than enough; spoon leftovers over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers) [mm, good idea! we also put it on top of hummus]
1 7-oz jar sundried tomatoes, drained [if you get it packed in olive oil, save it]
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil [can use the stuff you drained from the jar!]
salt
pepper

Salad
16 ounces corkscrew pasta
1 jar Kalamata or assorted olives [I skipped]
1 pint rip cherry tomatoes, halved
Several (10 to 15) basil leaves, chopped or julienne [I did more of this and added some parsley too]
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese [I used Grana Parano]

Prepare dressing by blending sundried tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar until tomatoes are chopped. Blend while drizzling in olive oil; continue blending until mixed together.
Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water until no longer hot. Pour 2/3 of the dressing over the pasta, add olives, and toss together. Add remaining ingredients, tossing together and adding more dressing until the salad is coated to your liking. Serve on a big platter with an extra sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Comments

hefk said…
this was amazing and I will try to recreate your wonderful version of this one night this week!
9:17 PM
hefk said…
made this on Thursday. yours was better. everything's better in ithaca.
11:58 PM
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