Last night for dinner I made my favorite pasta salad and whole artichokes. As always it was a success. Now I am going to share this with you. This is literally years of perfecting; so don't take this lightly. What I am about to reveal to you is pure happiness. It all started with Homemade Gourmet's Mediterranean Pasta Salad. My mom used to buy and make the mix all the time. I would eat half the bowl and be craving more for months. Then I moved out on my own. No more pasta salad (sigh). Thus began my quest to recreate this delectable salad. As this was a patented recipe, I could not find an exact match to the original. However, I also couldn't find anything close to it. Finally I compiled a mismatch of recipes and a bit of my own ingenuity (probably the only bit I'll ever have), and viola:
1 pkg bow tie noodles
1 c sun dried tomatoes
1 c pine nuts
1 container basil and sun dried tomato feta cheese
1 1/2 c Parmesan cheese
3 c fresh basil
Juice from 1 1/2 lemons
6 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 1/2 TB sea salt
1/2 c pine nuts
Directions:
Boil and drain noodles
Chop Tomatoes, Reserving a few for pesto if desired
Place noodles, pasta, and tomatoes into salad bowl
In food processor combine remaining ingredients and reserved tomatoes
Pulse until blended
Mix into bowl
Optional: add a few whole basil leaves in with the noodles
Note: Because we are working with fresh ingredients, flavors may vary from batch to batch depending on the potency of products. For best results, perform multiple taste tests and adjust as needed ;)
