Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Over the years, I've developed or personalized many recipes. In fact, I've usually tried to develop at least one "thematic" recipe from the various places where I've lived over the years. Sometimes, that's meant that I merely found an excellent regional recipe and added it to my repertoire, but more often it meant that I started with something typical of a region and developed my own version.

The pasta salad recipe that follows is one of the all time "winners." I started with a pasta salad recipe from Jane Peterson's Anything but Plain Jane Cookbook. (Jane, a local librarian in the Tucson area, grew up in a catering family on the east coast. Her self-published cookbook has many excellent recipes from her catering background.) Starting with Jane's basic recipe, I punched up the flavors in several areas, and then I took the dressing in a whole new Southwestern direction with Chipotle peppers and fresh limes.

What follows is a recipe my daughters won't let me leave behind. I also developed a potato salad based on a modified version of the pasta salad dressing. I intend to publish that in another posting.

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Mediterranean Pasta Salad

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. coarse black pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. minced garlic (two large cloves)
2 chipotle peppers (with a little of the adobo sauce if desired)
1 lb. medium pasta shells
Salt for pasta water
1 cup sliced black olives (or whole, pitted black olives, quartered)
5 or 6 sun dried tomatoes, soaked in water if necessary, blotted dry & cut into thin strips
3 or 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated asiago cheese (or combination of asiago and freshly grated parmiggiano regianno)
5-6 oz. bag of fresh spinach, cleaned, stems removed and cut into chiffonade (baby spinach if available)
2 or 3 fresh limes


Combine oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, garlic, chipotles, and the juice of one lime in blender. Puree.

Cook pasta in salted water. Add to bowl with dressing and toss, adding sun dried tomatoes and olive slices. Let cool about 10 minutes. Add cheese. Toss well and let cool 10 minutes longer before adding fresh tomatoes and spinach. Add salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste. Cut the remaining limes into sections and serve on the side so people can accent their individual servings with lime.

This makes about 4 pounds or 16 side-dish servings.

Options:

-- To serve as a main dish, add one or two chicken breast halves, grilled or baked in a 350° F. oven for 25 minutes, cut into small cubes or strips.

-- Add other ingredients to taste such as diced avocado, diced red onion, toasted seeds and nuts, etc.