Ina Garten's Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Pasta

 Fourth of July picnic fare was all dolled up yesterday with pulled pork, burgers, hotdogs, pimento cheese and crackers, boozy coconut pineapple chunks, chips, pickles, and this pasta salad. Thank you, Ina Garten for giving me a wonderful base recipe! I used gemelli pasta instead of rotini because I like its 'bite'. I also added the pepperoni, sweet yellow peppers, and sweet white onions. You can add whatever you have in your produce drawer - perhaps red and green peppers ? In addition, I omitted the Parmesan cheese and halved the mozzarella measure, because I felt there was enough cheese in the recipe. Here's the base recipe ! Have at it !

Ina's Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes

Serves 8 easily 

Salad Ingredients: 

1/2 lb. rotini pasta, al dente

1 lb. ripe tomatoes, small chop

3/4 c pitted Kalamata black olives, rough chop

1 lb. good quality mozzarella cheese, 1/2 inch chunks ( I used 1/2 lb.)

6 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped finely

Dressing Ingredients:

Whiz in a blender until smooth.

5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

1 large garlic clove, peeled and chopped

1 tsp. capers, drained ( I used 2 tsp.)

1 tsp. Kosher salt ( I used 1/2 tsp.)

3/4 tsp. black pepper ( I used 1/2 tsp)

2 tbsp. good quality red wine vinegar

6 tbsp. olive oil (I used 5 tbsp.)

Salad Garnish:

1 c. slivered basil leaves

a modest sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese ( I omitted this)

My salad additions:

1 c. chopped pepperoni

1/2 sweet yellow pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 small sweet white onion, thinly sliced wedges

Making the Salad:

1. Cook, drain, and rinse the pasta under cold water. Turn the drained pasta into a large salad bowl.

2. Top the pasta with the chopped tomatoes, olives, the sun-dried tomatoes, onion, yellow pepper, and pepperoni. Use your clean hands to very gently toss the salad to distribute the different components.

3. Whiz the dressing ingredients in a blender and pour most of the dressing over the salad. Gently toss with your hands, taking care not to smash the chopped tomatoes.

4. Top the salad with the mozzarella chunks, slivered basil, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and spoon the last bit of dressing onto the top center of the salad for garnish. Garnish with a few slices of pepperoni to let folks know that this is not a vegetarian dish.

5. Serve room temperature immediately or refrigerate for a bit before serving slightly chilled.