Balsamic Pasta Salad Food

BALSAMIC BASIL PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Boil your pasta. While your pasta is cooking, make your dressing. Whisk together the vinegar, garlic powder, mustard, salt and pepper. While still whisking, drizzle in your olive oil. Once fully combined, set aside.
• When the pasta is done cooking, drain well then add a few tablespoons of the dressing to the pasta to prevent sticking and refrigerate until cold in a large bowl - this makes about 13 cups so be sure to have a big enough bowl! (Hot Tip: Don't rinse your pasta in cold water after cooking, removing the outer starch can keep the dressing from sticking well to it!)
• Add the remaining ingredients to the pasta (you may need to give the dressing another good whisking before adding if the oil has separated). You can serve this right away, but it's even better if it can have some time to marinate in the fridge! Once it's refrigerated, I like to let it sit on the counter for a few (the olive oil will thicken in the fridge and setting it out re-liquifies it) then give it a good stir before serving.

BALSAMIC PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk first 6 ingredients together to prepare the dressing mix, set aside.
• Cook the pasta of your choice.
• While pasta is cooking, chop broccoli and blanch for 2 minutes.
• Combine cooked pasta, blanched broccoli, chopped red pepper and sliced green onion.
• Pour dressing mix on top of pasta mixture; toss to coat.
• Chill until ready to serve.
• **Note: Preparation can be accomplished while pasta is cooking, making this a very quick dish**.

BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Clean and chop all veggies.
• Boil pasta till al dente.
• Add any veggies that you prefer lightly cooked to boiling pasta in the last 3 minutes of boiling (mine would be asparagus and carrots).
• Drain pasta/veggies and rinse in cold water to stop cooking.
• Add all veggies to pasta and mix.
• Add ham.
• Pour balsamic vinaigrette onto the pasta and mix--you can use less than the whole bottle but I prefer mine "soupy".
• Serve immediately with the Gouda sprinkled over the top.

BALSAMIC PASTA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and salt; saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, herb mix, fennel, red pepper flakes. Add balsamic vinegar. Continue to heat until mixture appears slightly syrupy, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring back to a simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.

ANTIPASTO PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, and cool under cold water.
• In a large bowl, combine the pasta, salami, pepperoni, Asiago cheese, black olives, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and tomatoes. Stir in the envelope of dressing mix. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• To prepare the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad, and mix well.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water; transfer to a large bowl. Add the chicken, tomatoes, onion, bacon and Gorgonzola cheese., In a small bowl, whisk the oil, basil, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

BALSAMIC PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Boil one pound of any type pasta of your choice.
• Tweak the amount of ingredients to your own taste.
• Mix ingredients with pasta and toss.
• Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. The longer it marinates the better.

BASIL AND BALSAMIC PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Boil the pasta until al dente. Strain and rinse with cold water immediately to stop from continued cooking.
• Once pasta is fulled cooled (as in cold), pour pasta into a large mixing bowl. Add the entire bottle of dressing, the mozzarella chopped into about 1/2 inch cubes, basil, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes and green onions. Mix together and taste. Add ground black pepper and kosher salt to taste. You'll probably only need very little if any salt. It depends on the brand of dressing you buy.
• Let sit in the fridge at least 2 hours. Fold in parmigiano cheese, cucumber and chopped avocado right before you serve.