Friday, March 18, 2011

Beloved Bowties Pasta Salad



Father's Day a perfect day for a BBQ and family! I was lucky enough to have over 14 of my favorite family members to celebrate the occasion. I was busy all day cooking up a storm for them, chicken, tri-tips, ribs with my Peach BBQ Sauce, Baba's Chili Beans, green salad and a Beloved Bowties Pasta Salad. Did I mention dessert, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, Lemon Squares and a Banana Cake with Caramel Sauce and Fresh Bananas? We know how to do it right in this house.

Beloved Bowties Pasta Salad
1 lb. farfalle pasta - a.k.a. bowties
1 pint baby heirloom tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Put a large pot of water on to boil and add 2 or 3 teaspoons of salt. When boiling add bowties and boil for 10 minutes, till tender. Drain and set aside.

Heat a small skillet on medium heat and add a tablespoon or so of olive oil, put tomatoes in and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes, you just want to heat them so they burst in your mouth when you bite into them.

Dressing
1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. pine nuts
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

In food processor or blender combine basil, garlic, pine nuts, vinegar, salt and pepper, stream in olive oil. Pulse till combined.

In a large bowl combine pasta, tomatoes, pine nuts and dressing. Serve at room temperature.

This salad was given its' cute name because bowties were my daughters' favorite as a child. The bowties could only be fixed with butter and Parmesan cheese. Lucky for us she has grown into a more adventurous eater, she came home from college orientation the other day and proclaimed, "I am never eating in the cafeteria again"! I had to laugh; did I do my job too well?

Serves 10.

Enjoy,

Gina

8 comments:

  1. hi Gina

    what a nice surprise finding you here, and I love that pasta salad! those sweet little heirloom tomatoes look so good, a perfect addition to that salad.

    hope you are having a wonderful weekend
    Dennis

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  2. Hi Chef D,
    Thanks for finding my new space, still a work in progress.
    -Gina-

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  3. well done on your new blog. 10 posts in 20 days ? It's keeping you busy ! :-)

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  4. Hi Sarah,

    It's a lot of work, but it's coming along. Thanks for finding me.

    Gina

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  5. What a gorgeous salad!

    And I had to laugh when I saw what SP really stood for...I had in my tiny brain that it was Sweet Potato...which makes NO sense :)

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  6. You are Cookie Queen, Self-Proclaimed or not! I didn't know you were here now, until I read Roxana's blog, about your wonderful cookie recipe.

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  7. Thank Becky, I'm still working on moving stuff. So I will have both sites going for a while.

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  8. Gina!! Your food is beautiful!! I loved going through quickly this morning . . . I'll be back!! I love cookies - but I am glad to see all this other yummy stuff too!!

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