We hope You Had A Great Independence Day
We
decided to have a small Independence Day get together of just our “circle of
trust” friends on the dock and while it was a 90F day, it was pretty
comfortable by the water.
While we waited for the others, Joe and I visited and Bev did a little decorating.
Since we had
offered the dock to a friend to use on the fourth with visiting family, we
did ours on July 3. We tried to take the
necessary protective measures of temperature checks, hand washing, and social
distancing.
I wanted
to make pasta salad for our Independence Day meal and I wanted plenty for
leftovers. I couldn’t decide between primavera
(veggies) and muffaletta (New Orleans sandwich) so I combined them and
got the following recipe, which makes a lot – use just half everything for a normal
batch.
Muffaletta/
Primavera Pasta
Salad
Ingredients:
2 lb. small shaped pasta (I used
rotini and small shells – had on hand)
3 cups yellow squash, half moons
3 cups broccoli, small florets
2 cups red bell pepper, medium dice
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts,
halved or quartered
2 teaspoons
minced garlic
1 tsp. each dried oregano, basil,
thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 (6
ounce) jar Italian mix giardiniera, chopped
½ cup
chopped roasted red peppers
½ cup
pimento stuffed olives, sliced
½ cup
sliced kalamata olives, halved
½ cup
sliced black olives, sliced
2
tablespoons capers, drained
4
ounces Genoa salami, cut into bite size pieces
4
ounces ham, cut into matchsticks
4
ounces provolone cheese, cut into bite size pieces – note 1
4
ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into bite size pieces – note 1
1½-2 bottles Newman’s Italian
Dressing
Note
1: I used 8oz. of the fine shredded Italian Style cheese that we had on hand – it contained
mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, romano, fontina, and asiago.
Directions:
1. Prep
the broccoli, squash, and peppers and thaw the peas. Veggie amounts and types can be adjusted to
suit you.
2. Prepare
the olive salad by mixing the artichoke hearts, garlic, dried herbs, black pepper, giardiniera, roasted red peppers, olives, and capers. You can also use 2-3 cups of store bought
olive salad.
3. Prep
the meat and cheese.
4. While
prepping, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high
heat. Cook pasta according to package
directions. Remove from heat and drain.
5. Add
the prepped veggies to the drained pasta pan, pour the hot pasta over it, and stir to
combine – this will cook the veggies a little.
6. Stir
the salad dressing into the pasta then stir in the olive salad, meat, and cheese.
7. Taste
and adjust seasoning and salad dressing.
This is half of the recipe in a 13" bowl.
We served
it with burgers, dogs and melon. My
plate with a delicious large wiener and Bev's homemade sauce for my hot dog.
Then
for dessert it was homemade vanilla ice cream courtesy of our neighbors.
We had
a nice little outing and the pasta salad was a big hit – it is full of goodies
and they went well together. Several
folks took home a bowl full for later, commenting it was the best they ever had. This is my bowl for Saturday's lunch and it will definitely be made again but just a half recipe and maybe with a little sweet onion.
Photos
can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.
Have a
great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.
Larry
7/3/20
event date
I could eat that everyday looks outstanding!
ReplyDeleteLarry, That was a great way to celebrate Independence Day! Great setting, classic decor, on the water, with friends, good food and even proper social spacing! Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a fun Fourth of July. The pasta salad looks amazing and so does the chili dog.
ReplyDelete