I’ve been eyeing up this recipe for quite sometime now and decided that it would be great to serve at our 4th of July cookout. The peppery arugula and the sweet sun dried tomatoes really balance out nicely with the tangy dressing. If you make this ahead of time, you will need to freshen it up with a few drops of red wine vinegar and olive oil. The other thing I would recommend would be to wait and add the arugula until you are ready to serve. If added to early, the arugula will begin to wilt from the vinegar dressing. You could even change up the cheese, instead of using provolone, I think feta would go nicely. What’s fun about pasta salads is that you can create or change things to your personal taste.
Pasta Salad with Arugula and Sun Dried Tomatoes:
- 1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, patted dry and minced
- 2 tbs minced red onion
- 3 tbs red wine vinegar
- Salt and Pepper
- 8 ounces whole-wheat penne (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 2 ounces arugula (about 2 cups)
- 1/3 cup shredded provolone cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)
- 1 tbs minced fresh parsley
- 2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove minced to a paste*
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- Toss the sun-dried tomatoes, onion, 1 tbs of the vinegar, and 1/4 tsp salt together in a large serving bowl; set aside.
- Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pasta and 1 tbs salt and cook, stirring often, until tender. Drain the pasta, rinse with cold water to cool and drain again thoroughly. Add the cooled pasta, arugula, provolone and parsley to the bowl with the vegetables and toss to combine.
- Whisk the remaining 2 tbs vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic, and red pepper flakes together until combined, then pour over the pasta salad and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.