I’m late, I’m late…
I was speeding home along Route 50 heading back to Washington, DC from a morning cooking demo in Severna Park, Maryland. It was Saturday, June 10, 2017. The city was packed for a Sunday morning protest march past the White House and we had lots of friends in town, many who were due to arrive at our home for a cookout, about 20 minutes before I would make it there, and I was supposed to be doing to cooking.
I called my husband Jason and asked him to boil potatoes and pasta for salads so I could quickly assemble them when I pulled in. As expected, the house was full of people as I ran in the back door. I grabbed Italian stuff for the pasta salad: basil and oregano to add to a garlicky, red wine vinaigrette, and capers and sweet, juicy, fresh tomatoes.
In less than 15 minutes the salads were assembled and I was throwing meat on the grill. After a few deep breaths, lots of hugs, kisses and laughter, and a cold drink, plates began to be filled. That’s when I heard it, “This is the best pasta salad ever.”
I don’t know about that. You may prefer yours with strips of salami, Provolone and Italian dressing, you may want mayonnaise and Macaroni or Fusilli, cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, but I have been working on accepting compliments so I’ll take this one as intended. And…it is a darn good pasta salad.
“This is the best” pasta salad
Serves 6-8
Classic Italian flavors — sweet summer tomatoes, bitter, salty capers and a bright red wine vinaigrette loaded with fresh basil and oregano — come together with Farfalle bowties for a quick, fresh and clean pasta salad ready for your next cookout. It might inspire your guests, like mine, to say this is the best pasta salad ever.
For salad:
1/2 pound fresh Farfalle bowtie pasta
2 large, ripe tomatoes cut in 1” dice
1/2 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2-3 tbs capers
For vinaigrette:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbs finely chopped organo
2 tbs finely chopped basil
1/2 cup olive oil - the good stuff!
Directions:
Boil pasta for in salted water until al dente. Drain and rinse briefly under cold water.
Combine pasta, tomatoes, onion and capers in a large bowl.
Make dressing: sprinkle garlic with coarse salt and mash together into a smooth paste using the flat side of your knife. Whisk together with vinegar and herbs and season with fresh cracked pepper.
Whisk oil into dressing in a thin stream to form a creamy emulsion. Season to taste with additional vinegar, oil, salt and pepper as needed.
Dress pasta mixture starting with about 2/3 of the dressing and adding more as needed.
TIP: If you make this ahead of time, reserve 1/3 of the dressing to add before serving. The pasta may absorb some of the dressing while it rests, leaving it tasting a bit dry otherwise.
