All the “pastabilities” with summer salads

Summertime is here and that means light, bright, and colorful dishes. We had friends this weekend and I kept things simple, which meant BBQ and pre-prepped dishes so I could spend quality time with them. Burgers and Brats (will all the fixings) were on the menu, and while I usually go with fries or onion rings to complement the meal, a cold pasta came together much easier and I was able to sneak some veggies in too.

To say this is a recipe is a stretch, it’s so simple and can be made with whatever you have on hand, but here’s what mine looked like this go round.

Ingredients:

1 box of bow tie pasta cooked al dente

2 orange bell peppers chopped

1 green bell peppers chopped

1 can (14 ounce) of large olives drained and sliced in half

1 can (15 ounce) of artickoke hearts drained and quartered

1 16 ounce of cherry tomatoes halved

Dressing:

1 part oil to 1/2 part acid (I used 1 cup of olive and 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar 1/4 cup of lemon juice

1/3 cup of grated parmesan

1 bunch of fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

Place all dressing in a jar and use an immersion blender to mix up (a blender or food processor works too)

Cook pasta and drain. (I ran cold water over it since I wasn’t dressing the pasta until the next day and didn’t want it to get to soggy.) Add all chopped ingredients except tomatoes and pour about half of dressing and mix. Add more dressing as needed (I used about 3/4 of the total jar), once dressed to your liking gently fold in the tomatoes. Place in the refrigerator and cool for at least 4 hours. Serve with extra dressing on the side.

Wine to pair?

I went with a bright, crisp stainless steel barreled chardonnay (or two 😉) with the pasta, but since we had burgers and brats a pinot noir would be a good go between (yes shocker that I said Pinot right!).

Cheers to good food and even better friends!