{From My Kitchen} Tortellini Pasta Salad

I’m not a “foodie..” The fact is, I’ve never been that fantastic in the kitchen except for maybe a handful of things…and it’s not that I can’t do it…it’s that I don’t enjoy it!

However, I have this salad and call me crazy, but every time I make it folks are asking for the recipe like I’m some kind of Food-God…so I thought I’d share it.

Here’s what you need:

1. Tortellini Pasta. Tri-color is prettiest and it doesn’t matter if it’s the one stuffed with cheese or stuffed with meat as “don’t ask me” but they both taste the same!
2. Green Pepper. Also a red one if you feel like cutting up two. Throw in a yellow one if you’re felling really adventurous!
3. Red onion.
4. Mushrooms. But in my case, only if Spiderman isn’t around because he absolutely HATES mushrooms and even though I’m THAT mom that made him try them a few times…he still…after several attempts…hates the things to the point that I can’t even cook mushroom soup in this house because the second he walks in the door and smells it he freaks out and has to leave in a gagging “maaaammmm you know I hate mushrooms” freak show.
5. By “cooking mushroom soup” what I mean is I open a can and plop it in a pot and heat it up.
6. OK…maybe the fact that it actually “plops” out of the can might be the problem…but I digress…back to the salad ingredients…
7. Sun-dried tomato pesto. Not the green stuff…the reddy orange stuff…hence the “tomatoes.”

OK…now for the directions:

1. Open the Tortellini package and throw it in a pot full of boiling water and let it cook (I think it takes 8 minutes.) Watch this super-carefully because EVERY SINGLE TIME I cook it, it bubbles over in that big foamy mess of water and pasta bubbles pouring onto my glass stove top and one time, when I was using my dish cloth to clean it up, I caught the cloth on fire!
2. While you’re watching the pasta so it doesn’t boil over, chop up the peppers, onion and mushroom and put them all in a big salad bowl.
3. Once the tortellini is cooked, drain it…and put the HOT pasta on top of the veggies then stir it all up.
4. Add the pesto and VOILA (that’s french for “OMG that’s so easy”) you’re done!

Seriously…DONE. The hot pasta kind of “cooks” the veggies as if you “blanched them” or “sauteed” them…or whatever, I don’t know any of these words but it makes them less hard!

When it’s all cooled down, stick it in the fridge and serve it cold. OH…but don’t put it in the fridge HOT!! I have NO IDEA WHY but my mother says you’re not supposed to put hot food in the fridge…something about poisoning people or something which would be bad if you’re bringing this to a party and that reminds me…one of these days I should tell you the story about how I once poisoned my mother!

Anyway, bring the salad to a party and everyone will think you’re this fantastic cook and you’ll be all “it’s an old Italian family recipe I’m so glad you enjoyed it” even though you’re Irish and should be bringing Corned Beef and Cabbage…or Guinness.

Honestly, you can eat the pasta hot as a side dish…but it’s WAY BETTER cold!!!

Also…I haven’t made this since we were all on a family trip to Hubbards this summer and the next day, my friend Blair asked for the recipe (as everyone does after they eat this salad) so today, when finally putting away the beach bag from the front hall…I remembered that Blair wanted the recipe so I thought I would blog about it.

Also…don’t judge me about the beach bag that’s been in my front entrance for the last four weeks.

Also…since I know you’re going to ask…the bowl was made by my ex-husband’s mother many years ago and is a favourite of mine which you can probably tell from the chips along the edge. It’s called the “Anthony’s Anything Goes Bowl” and lists all of the things you could possibly put inside. When my ex left, I considered making an “Anthony’s Everything Went Bowl” listing all of the things that he took with him like the BBQ, various pieces of art, the dining room table etc… but I’ve got this twisted sense of humour and figured I’d be the only one to really get a kick out of it!

And finally…if you’re looking for a REAL food blogger who makes the most amazing dishes and also knows how to photograph the entire event…check out my friend Nic’s blog at Pepper + Paint or my friend Heather’s blog at Mmmisformommy. Seriously, they know food and their instructions are super simple!