Summer Pasta Salad
They had a sale on bocconcini cheese the other day, so I decided to use it in a pasta salad last night. Cheese and pasta? Yes, please!!!
This is the first year that we’ve had a vegetable garden in our back yard, and we’re finally starting to see some payoff for all of the hard work that goes into it… And by that, I mean my husband’s hard work is finally paying off!
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| What's amazing is that we didn't kill it immediately... |
I’ve never been that picky of an eater, but have only fairly recently started to really enjoy vegetables. And let me tell you, there is something truly awesome about being able to go out into the garden while I’m getting supper ready, and picking a few herbs or veggies. And it has made Hubs so very happy to have a project to do this summer!
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| So, we garden now. No big deal. |
This salad should take about twenty minutes or so to make, and it’s truly worth it. In my humble opinion, it’s lovely!
Ingredients
1 Box or bag of Pasta (about 450 grams or so, whatever kind you like)
1 Cup fresh spinach
½ Cup fresh basil
½ Cup finely diced tomatoes
½ Cup finely diced peppers (any kind)
⅓ Cup finely diced green or red onions (or chives if preferred)
1 200 gram container bocconcini cheese
2 Tbsp olive oil
⅓ Cup prepared pesto
Fresh pepper and salt to taste
Directions
- Prepare pasta as per box directions - for some reason I always cook my pasta one or two minutes longer than the “al dente” directions when making pasta salad
- Meanwhile, coarsely chop spinach and basil and pour in large bowl - I love big chunks of basil, but you might like to chop a bit finer if you don’t
Fresh, fresh, fresh! - Add chopped veggies to spinach and basil, toss to combine
- Chop bocconcini to desired size and add to veggies - I cut mine into eighths
- Once pasta is ready, strain and run cold water over it until it’s cool
- Add pasta to large bowl and toss to combine
- Add olive oil to bowl of pasta and veggies
- Add pesto to bowl, and toss well to combine - my pesto was very thick, so I nuked it for about 30 seconds to make it easier to stir
So good! - Add salt and fresh pepper to taste
n.b.: You can substitute any kind of cheese you like if you’re not a fan of bocconcini. I like it in this salad because it’s so mild you can really taste the freshness of the basil and veggies. I have used feta in this salad before, and it was good too - though you’d probably want to adjust your salt accordingly, since feta is quite strong and salty.
Keep eating, keep smiling:)
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