When I was at my cousin's engagement party a couple of weeks ago, she served a wonderful pasta salad that I knew I had to duplicate as soon as possible.
Well, today's the day. I'm going to a get-together this evening, so I took advantage of the opportunity to try my hand at replicating the deliciousness. Here's the recipe, created by my cousin and her daughters:
Country French Pasta Salad
1 lb. (dry weight) mini penne pasta, cooked, drained and rinsed with cold water
1 cup Penzey's Country French Vinaigrette dressing, prepared according to package directions
1 pint grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, seeded and sliced in halves or quarters
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced in halves
6 oz. crumbled feta cheese
Chopped fresh basil leaves, to taste
Combine all ingredients and chill for several hours or overnight to blend flavors.
Yum!
I had never heard of that dressing, but following the link it looks good.
I have made a lot of pasta salad over the years, and the key is always the dressing. From macaroni in mayo, to exotic oils, to vinegar/sugar/mustard the dressing steers the whole dish. What veggies, cheese and whatnot you add will be determined by what goes well with the dressing.
And is it just me, or are salads with less veggies more popular? I miss an excuse to use radish in something!
Posted by: Nuke | June 21, 2010 at 11:33 AM
It was yum!
Posted by: LuAnn | June 22, 2010 at 10:06 AM
Yippee! I got invited to a party I can bring this to! Yet ANOTHER trip the store this week to get the odds and ends.
Posted by: zenzonechick | July 01, 2010 at 09:54 AM