Pesto Pasta Potluck

Italian Potluck at work - much thanks to my J-dog Joana for giving me the idea. It saved me from slaving over vegetable lasagna - which is good, but dang I didn't want to spend that much time in the kitchen on a summer night.

To me, pasta salad is all about throw together what you have. Pasta, whatever vegetables, and a dressing. Tonight I made use of the basil taking over my tiny garden and in fact, some of the tiny cherry tomatoes we have as well. I added some green onion and red bell pepper. I was going to add defrosted peas but forgot - oh well.

The recipe for the basil pesto can be found here.

Pasta Pesto Salad

2 boxes wheat rotini pasta
1 cup basil pesto
halved cherry tomatoes
1 red pepper, chopped
chopped green onion tops
salt and pepper

Boil 2 quarts hot water with enough salt that it's salty to the taste.

Boil the pasta until slightly more al dente than you would serve warm with sauce. Drain and plunge into icy water to stop the cooking. Leave a few minutes to chill if you are serving right away.

Drain and add the pesto. Add the halved cherry tomatoes, red pepper, and onion. Stir together. Taste, then add appropriate salt and pepper.

If I'd had some cheese, say feta or goat cheese, I would have added that. This could be done with boccacini, tomatoes, and julienned basil to make a Caprese pesto salad. Mmm!