Farfalle Pasta Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts!

I like fun food at fun holidays! With Memorial Day approaching and 4th of July around the corner.....I'm thinking a fun pasta salad!



I bought this beautiful pasta, along with lots of truffles on our cruise last Fall from Roma to Lucca, catching Corsica on the way back, so beautiful. There are many colored pasta available at specialty shops including Pasta and company in Seattle or on line at Gourmet Italian and Amazon.

You can make your own colored pasta or you can purchase. Here is a list of special ingredients you may add to the dough to give it different colors and/or various formats:

green with spinach, basil or parsley just cooked and blended
red beetroot or boiled and  tomato paste
orange with carrots or pumpkin cooked and eventually dried in the fire
yellow with saffron or curry powder diluted in warm water
brown with cocoa powder
black  with squid ink

Farfalle pasta salad
serves 8-12

1-2 pkg. Farfalle pasta (any type)
1/2 c. Extra virgin Olive oil
1/2 c. Large shreds of Parmesan cheese (not grated)
4 T. minced garlic
1/2 c. chopped Sundried tomatoes
2-3 T. Fresh Basil
Salt and pepper
1/2 c. Toasted Pine nuts

Directions

Cook pasta; rinse, drain and let cool. Add all the ingredients and mix gently, but well. Refrigerate. You may want to adjust oil les or more, or even some broth to moisten, if needed afterwards.

This is really good served chilled or at room temp! Everyone raved about this salad!! Ruth said it's a "Pesto Salad"! With pine nuts, olive oil, basil and garlic, it is much like adding pesto to the pasta.

Another fun salad "The Black and White Bowtie Pasta Salad"! Check it out, it uses a bacon flavored salt.

We are having so much fun with family! Here is just a snapshot of part of our fun week with them!