Pesto Pasta Salad
Pesto is delicious in pasta salad! If you’ve never had this
combination, you’re in for a treat. Make fresh basil pesto and dress up spiral pasta with olives, cherry tomatoes, green peas, and pine nuts. Great for lunch or a light dinner.
When it's the season for potluck barbecues, a quick and easy dish to prepare for a gathering is pesto pasta salad!
Spiral pasta catches and hold the bits of basil pesto. You can dress up the pesto and pasta with any number of ingredients.
Cherry tomatoes, nuts, peas, and olive tapenade are what I had on hand for this particular version, but you could also add goat cheese, slivered almonds, sun-dried tomatoes, or snow peas.
Ingredients
- 1. 4 cups uncooked fusilli pasta (use rice pasta for wheat-free version)
- 2. 1 cup fresh basil pesto, store bought or homemade
- 3. 2 tablespoons chopped green olives, or olive tapenade
- 4. 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 5. 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted (or fresh if you can get them)
- 6. 12 ounces assorted cherry tomatoes, halved
- 7. Several fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
- 8. 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
