PASTA SALAD ITALIAN STYLE

Italian Pasta

This is a great summer side dish especially for cookouts. It is simple to make and you'll look an artist.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. tricolor Fussilli spiral pasta or tortellini
  • 1 large red onion diced
  • 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green bell pepper, seed, remove ribs and dice, 1/2 each may be plenty, but if you're not going to use the remainder and throw it out, don't, use it all
  • 1 large can of pitted black olives, drained and sliced
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • 2-3 cloves of chopped fresh garlic
  • A handful of freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving
  • The top 3-4 inches of a bunch of celery (including leaves) chopped
  • A large bottle Italian salad dressing if you're to lazy to make what's listed below
  • DRESSING:
  • ALL INGREDIENTS ARE TO TASTE
  • SOME GOOD EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
  • A SPLASH OF BALSAMIC VINEGAR
  • RED WINE VINEGAR
  • A SPLASH OF WATER
  • A PINCH OF FRESH MINCED OREGANO
  • A SMALL HANDFUL OF CHOPPED FRESH FLAT LEAF PARSLEY AND FRESH BASIL.
  • 1-2 CLOVES OF MINCED FRESH GARLIC
  • ANY OTHER ITALIAN SEASONINGS THAT YOU LIKE; ROSEMARY, SAGE, ETC. IF FRESH, MINCE
  • A SMALL HANDFUL OF FRESHLY GRATED PECORINO ROMANO OR PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO CHEESE
  • KOSHER SALT AND FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil then add salt to taste. Add pasta and cook until very al dente (in Italian, this means "to the tooth", still quite hard); DO NOT over cook. Stir as soon as you drop the pasta so they won't stick. If using fresh of frozen pasta, it is pretty much done when it comes to the surface. The only exception is with filled pasta which may take a little more cooking. Strain and splash with cold water to retard cooking any further and rinse a little of the starch off but do not rinse thoroughly then set aside to cool or refrigerate. When cool, add all remaining ingredients, toss with dressing and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

For Dressing:
MIX ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER WELL AND REFRIGERATE FOR 1 HOUR BEFORE USING. IF YOU LIKE IT ON THE CREAMY SIDE, PLACE ALL INGREDIENTS, EXCEPT THE OIL, IN A FOOD PROCESSOR, ADD A LITTLE CREAM AND BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH. WITH PROCESSOR STILL RUNNING, DRIZZLE IN THE OLIVE OIL SLOWLY.


LOOK FOR THE 50 MINUTE PILOT CABLE PRODUCTION OF THE SOUTH SIDE SOCIAL CLUB THAT WILL AIR ON HBO, A&E OR THE FOOD NETWORK AROUND MID AUGUST THIS YEAR. THIS POTENTIAL REALITY SHOW WILL GIVE YOU AN INSIDERS LOOK AT HOMEMADE WINE-MAKING AND HOME STYLE ITALIAN COOKING FOR LARGER GROUPS. THROUGHOUT WINE SEASON THE CLUB COOKS FOR 20-40 GUY'S EVERY SATURDAY AND UP TO 125 FOR SPECIAL EVENTS. OUR COOKBOOK WILL ALSO GO INTO FULL NATIONAL PUBLICATION AND BE AVAILABLE AT THE TIME OF THE SHOWS INTRODUCTION. VINCENZO

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Submitted 5/28/06.
Source: SOUTH SIDE SOCIAL CLUB COOKBOOK
Submitted By: VINCENZO PAOLINO
vinpaolino@verizon.net
PASTA SALAD ITALIAN STYLE