Pasta salad has been our thing this summer - in the past we haven't been such big fans, but we're discovering that all our favorite flavors make excellent summer eating when combined in a cool pasta salad.
This one is dressed with ricotta whipped smooth, with a little yogurt for tang and mixed with two full heads of roasted garlic. Don't blanch - roasted garlic doesn't overpower the way that fresh would. The roasting makes it sweet and nutty and the perfect complement to tomatoes and olives. Do as we say and not as we do: we were in a rush and used canned (sliced!) olives, but in the future we'd use some really nice green olives from the farmer's market. We liked the way that the olives tucked themselves inside the shells...
Roasted Garlic, Olive and Tomato Pasta Salad
serves 4
2 heads of Roasted Garlic
16 ounce box of medium-sized pasta shells
Olive oil
15 ounces whole milk ricotta
3/4 cup whole milk yogurt
Salt and pepper
4 small tomatoes, diced
1 cup sliced black or green olives
1/4 cup finely minced basil
Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain, drizzle with a little olive oil, and let cool for a little while. Whisk the ricotta and yogurt together until lightened and smooth, and add in all of the roasted garlic - squeezing the soft garlic out of each clove. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pour the ricotta mixture over the pasta and add the tomatoes, olives, and basil. Toss to coat. Serve slightly warm or chilled - the texture is best if served immediately, but the garlic flavor improves overnight, so either way it's good!
That sounds incredible, I'll have to do this one tonight! We have a lot of pasta salad in the summer too...one of our favorites is a Lemon Tuna variety.
Flake up some tuna packed in olive oil, add a drained can of cannellini beans, the juice and zest of one lemon, and capers to taste. Add fresh basil if you have it, add your pasta, and you're ready to go. Leftovers are spectacular, but you need to add a little EVOO the next day...
view debtex's profile
Is this still good with a lower fat ricotta or lower fat yogurt?
view divinemsn's profile
Ooh, I've got all the stuff to make Deb's lemon tuna pasta tonight! I'm trying to use up pantry stuff since we're moving in a week - that's two less cans to pack! Yay!
view erin in indy's profile
This sounds really yummy. I'm wondering if the recipes could offer a printer friendly tab. It would be very helpful, as I can't seem to get the recipe to centre on the page, and end up writing it out by hand to use.
view judy in TO's profile
I just made this and, as I ususally do, I adapted it according to what I had in my kitchen. I like garlic, so I did 4 cloves of roasted garlic instead of two; I also roasted the tomatoes. I didn't have yogurt, so I added lemon juice and some chopped capers for tang, and finally I added salmon! YUM! (I think this would also be excellent with prosciutto or really good salami.)
view lindsey's profile
This looks delicious! Perfect for summer. I'll share the link with my visitors. Cheers!
view Rob Curran's profile
I just tried this out for my afternoon snack and it was very good. I added cucumber (leftover from my CSA basket) and used whole wheat penne. I didn't have as many olives as I would have liked but since I feel So Very Pregnant I was quite generous with some fresh parmesan. Ahem.
Very yummy.
view Loki Quinn's profile
I second the print option for recipes on this site -- I have to copy and paste into a word document b/c just printing the page has all the ads and stuff on it.
view Nikita's profile
Wow that looks so good! When I was little my sister used to always make a pasta salad in a box that wasn't at all good for you, but I would love to revisit the theme with more fresh options....and the creamy garlic sauce looks so amazing!
view Courtney Oquist's profile