Summer Pasta Salad…Fast and Easy For A Crowd!

Summer pasta salad, full of salty prosciutto, gorgonzola cheese, garden tomatoes, pine nuts, and fresh basil. Served over tender pasta, this is an easy and delicious weeknight meal!

Summer Pasta Salad with gorgonzola, proscuitto, tomatoes, and basil

We’re on vacation this week in the High Sierras with a big group of people. Every night we meet in front of one of the condos and every family brings something to contribute to the night’s meal. I guess that’s called a pot-luck. I already said I’m bringing dessert for the celebration on the fourth. I’ll either make Fruit Filled Hand Pies or Apricot Cherry Slab Pie, which is good for a big group of people.

In the meantime, I still need ideas for big crowds. I love pasta salad. Not the grocery store kind…UGH! It’s always too sweet or slimy or something.  I thought about my Homemade Gorgonzola Ravioli with the Summer Pasta Sauce and decided to turn those flavors into something easier.

This delicious and easy to make summer pasta salad!

Print

Summer Pasta Salad with Gorgonzola

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Author: Cynthia McCloud Woodman

Ingredients

• 1 pound penne or whatever kind of pasta you like
• 1/2 dozen tomatoes cherry, heirloom, or garden, diced
• 1/4 cup or more toasted pinenuts
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Several basil leaves cut chiffonade (One Minute Food Byte how to chiffonade basil)
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• splash of Balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 4 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto

Instructions

1. In a large bowl add tomatoes, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, basil, garlic, olive oil and splash of vinegar to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Let it sit on the counter until you're ready for it.
3. Meanwhile boil pasta, drain and toss with the sauce.
4. Add crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and prosciutto, (optional)
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.