Description
A warm pasta salad that incorporates tons of veggies and a flavorful tomato vinaigrette with the silky texture of feta cheese.
Ingredients
Scale
- 12 ounces dry pasta (I used mini farfalle, also called bowtie)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 6 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 summer squash, sliced and quartered
- 1 cup broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
- 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 4 green onions, sliced (both white and green parts)
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into chiffonade
- Reserved vinaigrette from Fresh Tomato Salad
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted water according to package instructions to al dente. Drain pasta, and rinse under cold water for about 15 seconds until the pasta has slightly cooled. Pour warm pasta in a large bowl and drizzle with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, toss lightly to coat the pasta.
- Prepare the vegetables by quartering and slicing. (The pieces should be slightly smaller than the pasta.)
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil and saute the mushroom slices until the mushrooms give up their liquid. Stir in the minced shallot and garlic and continue cooking until mushrooms start to brown. Remove the mushrooms and set aside.
- Add the carrots to the skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the red pepper, broccoli and summer squash and cook until the vegetables are tender to the bite, about 2 minutes more.
- Combine the cooked vegetables and mushrooms with the warm pasta. Stir in the crumbled feta cheese, sliced green onions, quartered grape tomatoes, minced parsley, and basil chiffonade.
- In a liquid measuring cup add the tomato vinaigrette reserved from the Fresh Tomato Salad. Stir in the Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, and red wine vinegar and stir well to combine. Taste and add salt and black pepper if needed.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the warm pasta and toss everything well.
- Serve warm with crusty bread, if desired.
Notes
The reserved tomato vinaigrette should equal 2/3 cup. If substituting bottled Italian dressing, add that much to the pasta and then if you feel the pasta needs more, drizzle a bit more on the pasta—but be frugal, you don’t want the vegetables and pasta to be drowning in dressing.