How To Make Tomato Orecchiette Pasta Salad
Our Orecchiette Pasta Salad is so good. It's made with sun-ripened cherry tomatoes. Plus, a few other ingredients from our garden, like fresh arugula and sweet basil. But there's also EVOO, sea salt, and cracked black peppercorns, and our Tomato Vinaigrette ties it all together.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces orecchiette pasta
- 1 1/2 cups of cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup chopped arugula
- 1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese plus more for serving (or you can use parmigiano reggiano)
- 8 to 10 sweet basil leaves rolled and sliced into ribbons
Instructions
- Cut 1 1/2 cups of cherry or grape tomatoes in half.
- Rough chop 1 cup arugula and 6 to 8 large sweet basil leaves.
- Grate 1 to 1 1/2 cups of pecorino romano or parmigiano reggiano.
- Following the package instructions, cook 16 ounces of orecchiette pasta until it's al dente.
- Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water until the pasta is cool to the touch.
- Toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt or kosher salt.
- Add the prepared tomatoes, arugula, sweet basil, grated cheese, and our easy tomato vinaigrette and gently toss.
- Next, add sea salt or kosher salt to taste.
- Serve in salad bowls and top with more grated cheese.
Notes
How to Make Tomato Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp balsamic glaze
- 3 tbsp agave syrup (pure maple syrup, honey, or pomegranate molasses)
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 10 cherry tomatoes (I used a combination of Juliett's, Sun Sugars, Champagne Bubbles, Black Cherry, and Super Sweet)
- pinch of sea salt to taste
- freshly cracked black peppercorns to taste
- Add all ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth in about a minute.
- Make ahead or serve immediately.