I ran out of dressing while preparing pasta salad for a picnic. Olive oil extra virgin was all I had. So I only used that and some salt. This approach was much superior. Everyone clamoured for the recipe after being shocked to learn that this salad contained simply oil. Please give it a try this way; if you don’t like it, feel free to add vinegar or whatever. However, I don’t believe you will.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 25 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 (12 ounce) package spinach and ricotta tortellini
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- ½ pound pitted Kalamata olives, halved
- 2 tablespoons finely shredded fresh basil, or to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil, or to taste
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and cook uncovered until bright green, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately immerse in ice water to cool; drain.
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Stir the tortellini into the water and return to a boil; cook until the tortellini float to the top, 5 to 6 minutes; Drain water and run tortellini under cold water to cool.
- Combine tortellini, asparagus, tomatoes, olives, and and basil in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over tortellini mixture and stir to coat; season with salt.
- Orange or red tomatoes can be used. Substitute cherry tomatoes for grape tomatoes if desired.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 499 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 39 g |
| Cholesterol | 20 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 1132 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I used the Wishbone Robusto Salad dressing that someone else suggested and wasn’t thrilled with the results. I left out the olives and used slivers of Asiago cheese instead of the Parmesan. Overall I enjoyed the salad but will use a different dressing next time. Maybe add some roasted peppers also.
As stated, simple and delicious. No need to make any adjustments.
I must admit, I fully intended to “add some flavor” to this after preparing according to the recipe. However, I was pleasantly surprised as it is delightful just as is! Our grocery store didn’t have spinach/ricotta tortellini, so I used a four cheese tortellini instead. We also don’t care for olives, so I omitted them, but I can certainly see how they’d make this even better (if you like olives 😉 ). I didn’t measure the EVOO, just a drizzled a bit (and I’m sure I used well less than 1/2 C). Like the submitter says in the tagline, TRY IT as written first, then adjust if you feel it needs it (and I’m a tweaker from way back, but I’m glad I listened to the tagline plea for this one). THANKS for the recipe!