Today marks the last of our salad exploration. 18 weeks . . . 18 great salads. To be honest I can't believe that we're finished - Paul accused me of being confused when we were out walking last night. He was sure that we had missed a month of salads somewhere.
This week's salad was posted by Ida. She posted a salad that was true to her Italian heritage with lots of delicious Mediterranean flavours . . . sun-dried tomatoes, olives, roasted red peppers . . . all mixed with cheese tortellini. No, you wouldn't find this amazing salad on the menu in Italy, but what do they know anyway? LOL This is definitely one of those few times when North American Italian food RULES!
We really liked this salad for its robust flavours; neither of us could stop eating it. Ida warned us that the recipe made a large bowl - and it did. This would be a great salad to make for a party or a pot luck - you'll be the most popular person there!
The only change that we made to the recipe was to add about 1/4 cup basil leaves, cut in a chiffonade. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can play around with it, adding or deleting things based upon preference.
Enjoy!
Tortellini Salad
1 lb fresh or frozen tortellini or a Barilla bag of dry tortellini
1 container of pearl or small sized fresh mozzarella balls
16 oz jar of julienne cut sun-dried tomatoes in oil PLUS oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 large bunch Italian parsley, chopped fine
1 jar black dried olives in oil, pitted and sliced
16 oz jar marinated artichokes, cut into pieces
1 jar marinated red peppers, cut in strips
S/P and some extra virgin olive oilBoil pasta as per package instructions making sure not to over boil it! Drain, and set aside.
In a very very large bowl mix together the cheese through to the roasted red peppers.
Add cooked tortellini and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the salad is 'dry' add more olive oil.Cover bowl and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavours to blend.
This was a delicious salad; they all have been. I've thoroughly enjoyed Salad Samplers!
Posted by: Annie | August 23, 2009 at 07:24 AM
I especially loved this salad. Well ,all salads really:)
Posted by: Candi | August 23, 2009 at 02:34 PM
Hi Jerry, your salad looks very delicious. I really loved the flavors of Ida's recipe too.
Have a great Sunday evening!
Posted by: Kathy (Trekcapri) | August 23, 2009 at 08:14 PM
This is truly a very versatile salad and as you say, one can play around with the ingredients and have a great tasting salad.
The 18 weeks of salads was wonderful and I'm so happy to have so many new recipes to share and make for my friends.
Posted by: Maria I. | August 23, 2009 at 10:35 PM
This was such a good salad. I've been eating it all week.
Maria - I hope to do an 18 week round up this weekend.
I had no idea I'd enjoy salads as much as I did!
Posted by: JDeQ | August 27, 2009 at 07:57 AM