Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Friday, May 11, 2012


I'm aware that I'm really terrible about posting recipes other than desserts but I want people to know that I actually do eat things other than cupcakes and cookies.  This blog might suggest otherwise, but I swear it's true and here's the proof.  I would attribute my lack of real food dishes partly to the fact that it's extremely difficult, at least for me, to take pictures of non dessert items.  As it is, my dessert pictures don't always turn out.  One day I'll get photography lessons and have a kitchen made for food blogging like this one.  The kitchen has special nook in which to take pictures of your culinary delights and lighted circles within it so you don't even need plates to photograph the food!  Completely ridiculous, yet so awesome!  And since I don't have this kind of kitchen yet, for me it's easier to save dessert items and photograph them later.  Other stuff not so much, especially when it's quickly scarfed down by my hungry co-op mates.

However, I finally made a non dessert item and remembered to photograph it, because it's really worth making.  Especially if you're trying to make a good impression.  When I made this pasta salad for my house last week I got rave reviews, which is saying something because our menu was for a “Picnic Dinner” and included pasta salad and burgers.  Sounds boring, right?  That's what my friend thought, at least until until she tasted this pasta salad.  It's more of a gourmet side, or something along those lines, pasta salad just makes it sound so dull.  And this pasta is anything but, with ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil.

Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (adapted from Ina Garten)

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 pound fusilli  pasta (spirals)*
Kosher salt
Olive oil
1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced
3/4 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, medium-diced
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup packed basil leaves, julienned

For the dressing:
5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained                             1 garlic clove, diced     
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar                                   1 teaspoon capers, drained
6 tablespoons good olive oil                                        3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt

 Directions:
1) Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool.
2) Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. 3) For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.
4) Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and basil, and toss well.

* We didn't have any spiral pasta but I would use it because the spirals look prettier

Butterballs (also Mexican Wedding Cakes or Russian Teacakes)

Thursday, May 3, 2012


At the end of last quarter one of my friends was having a pretty hectic cook in our co-op and I decided to help him out a bit by making dessert.  Knowing that we didn't have a lot of ingredients left at the end of the quarter I decided to go for a super simple cookie which would be quick to make.  So I made these.  It seems to have been a pretty great decision.