Saturday, August 4, 2007

Pesto Pasta Salad

This weekend we went to a BBQ for my best friend's birthday - happy birthday Melody! I was asked to bring a side dish so I made my trusty pesto pasta salad. It's a little different than the usual pasta salad and super simple to make. It's also perfect for outdoor events since there's no mayo to go bad. :)

PESTO PASTA SALAD

INGREDIENTS:
1 (16 oz) box pasta - recommended Farfalle (bowtie) or Penne
1 (7 oz) package pesto sauce
1 (5 oz) package Gorgonzola cheese crumbles
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil, if necessary


DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a large pot of water on stovetop over high heat until boiling. Add pasta and boil until cooked but still slightly firm (al dente), about 11 minutes. Pour into colander and run under cold water until cooled. Set aside to drain.

2. In a large bowl combine pasta, pesto sauce and Gorgonzola. Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Stir until pasta is thoroughly coated - if sauce is too dry, add additional olive oil as needed. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

8 comments:

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I love the addition of the blue cheese in your pesto salad. It would really kick the flavour up a notch!!!!

Laura said...

Mmmm, summer on a plate!

I just love pesto...

Renea said...

Mmm I love pesto! Looks awesome!

~Amber~ said...

Looks wonderful!! What a great change from the regular pasta salad recipes.

Anonymous said...

mm..that looks interesting..and yummy!

~Jeri Darling~ said...

i think this needs to be brought to a get2gether!

Erika said...

this looks perfect for a BBQ! I can't wait to try it out! Thanks for sharing!

sgcoop said...

This is my kind of recipe. It looks really simple and yummy!