Your Daily Dish: Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad

Tis the season for this incredible Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad, a tasty mash up of a traditional Caprese salad with a creamy Pesto pasta salad. With tomatoes and basil at their prime, the fresh flavors combined with homemade pesto perfection make this pasta salad a super-easy and gourmet way to bring sunshine to the table.

Ingredients

Homemade Pesto

1 cup fresh basil, gently packed, stems removed
1 small garlic clove
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1 lb rigatoni pasta

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup mini bocconcini cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Fresh basil, to garnish

Directions

1) For the pesto, place the basil, garlic, almonds, salt and pepper in a food processor. Process 10 seconds to chop. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the machine running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream until mixture is smooth, about 20 seconds. Add the Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and white balsamic vinegar, processing just until incorporated.

2) For the pasta, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until tender, drain well and transfer to a large serving bowl. Let cool slightly.

3) Toss pesto with cooked pasta, tomatoes and bocconcini. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish serving bowl with fresh basil.

Serves 8

Bite Me Bit: “Everybody likes pesto. You walk into a restaurant, that’s all you hear – pesto, pesto, pesto.”-George Costanza, Seinfeld

For a pesto-free version of this salad, try our much-requested and super easy Caprese Orzo Salad, a tasty mix of cherry tomatoes, bocconcini cheese and sweet basil. x

 

 

 

Whether it’s cruising the aisles at the Dollar Store or experimenting at the stove, we believe that every day can be a holiday.

 

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