Moms Tortellini Salad for the Summer!

Well its June, which means summertime is getting into full swing! I love the warmer weather and just being able to be outside. Also, there are two big things that summer brings that Brian and I both love. Farmers markets and fairs, yahoo! We love stuffing ourselves with fair food and the fresh produce at the markets makes cooking so much more fun!

A big trend during summer is the grill of course! There are tons of amazing recipes and things you can do with use of the grill. You can even grill pizza! But I have yet to try that. So before I post all about my recent summer vacation I figure let me give you a couple of recipes to bring to BBQ’s.

First, up is my mom’s tortellini pasta salad. It is a little different than your regular pasta salad, but so easy to make! If you can let it sit for a couple of hours in the fridge it gets even better!

Ingredients:

1 pkg, of cherry tomatoes halved

½ of a white onion

1 can of black olives halved (optional)

1lb package of cheese tortellini (You can find it with the refrigerated pasta. I like to use Butoni cheese tortellini)

Salt

Pepper

Onion Powder

Basil

Red Wine Vinegar

Olive Oil

1. Boil water and put in the tortellini. Check the package for cooking time but 5-7 minutes should work to make it al dente. Then drain the pasta.

2. Once you have drained the pasta put it in a bowl and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil on it and mix. This will keep the tortellini from sticking together and getting funny.

3. Halve the cherry tomatoes and olives. Add them to the bowl.

4. Dice up about half of an onion. You can adjust this to your liking.

5. After combining everything in a bowl season the salad with salt, pepper, basil and a sprinkle of onion powder (so specific I know!). Then depending upon whether or not you are a vinegar lover like me, pour about a ¼ of a cup of red wine vinegar.

6. Mix together and put in the fridge for a couple of hours. Make sure to taste it and to adjust the seasonings and vinegar to your taste. That is what I do with everything!