A healthy and tasty salad that’s ideal for summer BBQ’s and picnics.
Ingredients
- 4 cups uncooked fusilli pasta (use rice pasta for wheat-free version)
- 1 cup fresh basil pesto, store bought or home-made
- 2 tablespoons chopped green olives or olive tapenade
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted (or fresh if you can get them)
- 12 ounces assorted cherry tomatoes, halved
- Several fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
Cook the pasta:
- Cook pasta according to instructions on the package.
- Make sure the water is salted (one and a half teaspoons per quart).
- Remove pasta from heat and strain when pasta is cooked, but still firm (al dente).
- Toast the pine nuts:
- While the pasta is cooking, toast the pine nuts in a small pan over medium-high heat. Keep an eye on them because pine nuts can go from lovely and toasty to acrid and burnt in seconds.
- When most of the nuts have a blush of golden brown on them, move them to a cool bowl or plate to rest. They will burn if you leave them in the pan.
- Combine all ingredients into a suitable salad bowl and mix together to distribute them evenly.
- Keep refrigerated until needed.
Source
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pesto_pasta_salad/
