Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Simple Summer Pasta Salad

This is one of my favorites; a perfect salad for a summer evening or to bring to a BBQ. My mom has been making this salad for years and it has been a hit at a ton of parties; she has adapted it from a cooking course she took when I was small. It can easily be doubled for large parties, and is adaptable to taste (for those who do not like onions, use less, for example):
To start, cook one 350 g package of cheese tortellini (fresh) as per package directions. While you are doing this, chop the vegetables:

You will need:
half of a sweet onion,
half of an English cucumber,
a handful of basil (fresh is key!)
a hothouse tomato.
Dice all your veggies as you are waiting for the tortellini to cool.
Now you can make your dressing:

Start with a quarter of a cup of olive oil and slowly add approximately 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. This is purely to taste, so taste away!! Whisk, add a pinch of pepper and salt to taste (I like it with more salt, sometimes I add more at the end but take it slow).

Now mix everything up and pour on dressing! It is nice to marinate and cool this salad for an hour as it tastes best cold. A perfect side to any dish!

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