Orzo Pesto Salad (A GREAT 4th of July Side Dish!)
This recipe comes from my cookbook, Entertaining 101: 101 Recipes Every Host Should Know How to Make!
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Orzo Pesto Salad Recipe
Serves 6-8
If this Orzo Pesto Salad could talk? We’ve whipped it up on both sides of the Atlantic, shuttled it around to potlucks and school picnics, and it still remains my husband’s favorite summer side dish. It’s just so easy and delicious!
It’s also a very filling side dish, so if you are serving something on the grill, and short on time, you can get away with this being your only side dish. It has the starchiness and the freshness of the veggies all rolled into one.
My husband and I have debated about which cheese is better in this salad, the pearl mozzarella balls or the crumbled goat cheese. And for years I swore the mozzarella was better, but now I think he’s right! I’ve crossed over to Team Goat Cheese. It really does add so much more flavor! But try for yourself and you decide, or add both!
INGREDIENTS:
Pesto: (see Note 1)
2 cups (38 g) basil leaves
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tbsp (45ml) pine nuts
½ tsp (2.5ml) salt
½ cup (120ml) olive oil
¼ cup (12 g) parmesan cheese
Salad:
1 pound (454 g) orzo pasta
8 ounces (227g) sugar snap peas
¾ cup (110g) sundried tomatoes in oil, sliced into strips
4 ounces (113 g) crumbled goat cheese or pearl mozzarella balls
½ cup (70 g) pine nuts
½ cup (8 g) julienned basil
Set a large pot to boil with 6 quarts of water, salted to taste.
Once boiling add the pasta and cook slightly covered for 10-11 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid the pasta sticking to the bottom. It’s done when the pasta is tender and doubled in size.
To make the pesto; in the bowl of a food processor add the basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts and salt. Processor until basil is minced, scrape down the bowl if needed to process again to ensure the leaves are mincing well.
Then with the machine running, slowly add the oil
Drain the pasta and run it under cold water to stop the cooking process. Place it in a large bowl and toss with the pesto.
Add the snap peas, sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese or mozzarella and toss to coat. Then stir in the pine nuts and basil.
The benefit of serving this immediately, is the goat cheese starts to soften slightly under the warmth of the pasta which makes it really yummy!
Otherwise, keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes:
To save time you could use a good quality store-bought pesto sauce sold in the refrigerated section of your supermarket.
Make Ahead Game Plan:
Up to 1 day ahead the salad can be made. Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.
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