Cherry tomato pasta salad
It's spring, so you know what that means... it's summer weather and beach party season in LA. Yesterday we posted up by a fire pit on the beach and had a laid back afternoon basking in the sunset and toasting s'mores. Sometimes I love being in Cali. These little moments of pure bliss perhaps justifies the traffic and parking hell you must endure.
Whenever I bring food to a gathering, it tends to garner two reactions: "it's so colorful!" and "that looks so healthy!" And yes, that's exactly what I want to hear. Because I believe in beautiful foods to first feed the eyes and of course nourishing foods to fuel the body and soul, colorful and healthy is the way to go.
I've been really into potluck pasta salads these days. It's just so easy to prepare, so delicious, and so customizeable with whatever is leftover in the pantry. However, Angelenos villainize carbohydrates, and pasta is public enemy #2, right behind bread. No matter how balanced and delectable I make my pasta, I still get judged out here by carb haters. But haters gonna hate and miss out. I'm still too hesitant to try red lentil / black bean / quinoa pasta, but I've recently been using high protein pasta (partly made with legume flour blend) to make the carb haters feel better about indulging in god's gift to humankind.
People are always unnecessarily impressed when they realize I cut up all my own fruit. Y'all, it's a fruit salad, not a sashimi platter. All it takes it a little patience and practice. Homemade fruit salads taste better because you can choose ripe fruit to cut up and chances are it's prepared with love, the most important ingredient.
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Cherry tomato pasta salad (seves 8-10)
1 box pasta - fusilli / rotini
16 oz crushed tomatoes
16 oz cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
6 oz mozzarella balls
6 oz arugula
4 oz parmesan
1/2 red onion
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c white wine
4 oz sun dried tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp Italian spice
1/2 tsp Cajun spice
salt, black pepper to taste
1. In a large pot, boil pasta in salted water until al dente
2. Sautee garlic and red onion in olive oil until browned
3. Add sundried tomatoes, half the sliced cherry tomatoes, and white wine
4. Bring down to a simmer and add crushed tomatoes and spices, 5-10 minutes
5. Mix in pasta, remove from heat and allow to chill once evenly coated with sauce
Before seving:
6. Once pasta is cooled, toss in remaining cherry tomatoes, mozzarella balls, and arugula
7. Top with parmesan and serve chilled
Pro-tip: overnight pasta salad tastes better than fresh pasta salad. Letting the pasta chill in the fridge for at least a few hours really helps marinate the pasta with the sauce.
