Well, maybe it’s not that big of a deal that I need to be all ASAP, but you I do need a recipe. I’ve got book club tomorrow in Santa Monica – no I didn’t read the book, but I did mean to – and I’ve decided to bring pasta salad. I have the cheese tortellini and can pick up anything else I might need, but really, I’m at a loss here.
Normally, I just use tri-colored pasta, add in some chunked veggies, some cheese, maybe some chicken or ham, and toss it all with some dressing or another by our good friend, Paul Newman. But this time around, I’m kind of stuck. I’m thinking that maybe something with a more creamy than vinegary dressing would be nice. But then what veggies? And no cheese because the pasta already has cheese, right?
Obviously, I’m going to flunk pasta salad making 101, so please, feel free to add any suggestions or ideas. Maybe I am a little desperate after all (it’s not like I can change my mind and bake something…we’ve got a forecast of low 90’s today and that means no oven!). So please, help a gal out…I’ll be your new best friend (she says in a sing song voice!) and I’ll be very, very grateful 😉
I twittered an idea to you, but just noticed you didn’t want more cheese. I usually make it with Ziti – fresh spinach, feta cheese, kalamata olives and Girard’s Champagne dressing. I still think it would work with tortallini. Combine and refrigerate before serving. Quite yummy.
By the way, feel free to come hike with me anytime! 😉
I didn’t forget about you.
This is a vinegar dressing, not creamy, but I’ll see what I can think of on the creamy front.
Make a dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, S&P, a lil’ crushed red pepper and a smidge of dijon mustard. Stir and set aside.
Cook your pasta, and add:
artichoke hearts (canned in oil) quartered (you can use the oil in your dressing if you like)
Kalamata olives chopped
grape tomatos halved — bonus if you do assorted colors, orange, yellow, red (get them at Trader Joe’s)
One yellow bell pepper cut into match sticks
1/2 red onion diced small
Toss and with the dressing and put in the fridge.
Right before you serve it, add fresh basil. (don’t add it too soon as it will turn black).
Everyone LOVES this.Â
I think you’re fine with no cheese since it’s cheese tortellini, if you wanted to do meat, you can do anything you choose.
Katy! I think I got to you too late on this one- sorry! I’m sure it turned out just fine. Thank you so much for your invaluable blogging and business advice. I really enjoy your blogs and love your candid writing style. I haven’t been to Mama D’s in such a long time, but I really like Le Pain Quotidien and Petros when I go to the south bay. Sitting outside on Sangria Sundays at HT Grill is AWESOME in South Redondo. Just a warning- the chop salad at Mozza is very vinegar heavy, so long as you like vinegar you’ll love this carbo-phobe salad!