Recipe Revamp: Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Come to mama.

This is one of my all time favorite dishes.

The flavors are just amazing and it is a great change from traditional Italian pasta salad.

But don't get me wrong, I love traditional Italian pasta salad too.

Just wanted to clear that up so there weren't any hard feelings.

I made this last week for the 100th time, and I realized that the original post about it was confusing and disjointed (why doesn't that surprise me???), so I thought I'd post a new, organized recipe.

As mentioned in the original post, this recipe was an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) recipe, which was revamped by the Pioneer Woman. I chose to use less olive oil and more vinegar than PW though (surprise!). I also sometimes add rotisserie chicken.

It's a "Must Try" recipe if you love sun-dried tomatoes.

Yum - these are a few of my favorite things...tomatoes, fresh basil, and kalmata olives. Look at those colors! During the winter, you may have a hard time finding yummy cherry tomatoes, but don't fret - you can leave them out if you have to.

Making the sun-dried tomato dressing in the blender...

Major YUM.

This one doesn't have cherry tomatoes, but has the addition of rotisserie chicken to make it a delicious one-dish meal.


Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad (serves 8)

• 1 package of rotini pasta
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in half
• 1 cup (loosely packed) basil, chiffonaded 
• 4 ounces pitted kalmata olives, drained and chopped (you can  use more or less to taste)
• 10 ounces sun-dried tomatoes packed in extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 - 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups of rotisserie chicken, chopped (optional)

For the dressing:

Put the sun-dried tomatoes and the oil they came in to a blender or food processor. Add the garlic, red wine vinegar and black pepper.

Puree, adding more olive oil as necessary (up to 1/2 cup).

I would recommend putting this in a jar in the fridge for a couple hours to let the flavors combine, but you don't have to.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water.

Combine the pasta, tomatoes, basil, olives and dressing in a large bowl - stirring to combine. Add half of the Parmesan cheese, stir to combine.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, serve and ENJOY!

Please note: If the leftovers become dry, you can add more red wine vinegar and olive oil to moisten.

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