Pesto Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad

Hello, food-loving friends!

It has been too long. I don't have a good excuse for my lack of activity recently but I will tell you that I know this recipe will make up for it. I made this pasta salad yesterday for a sort-of potluck tailgate situation and it was BOMB. I actually ate it for breakfast as I was making it yesterday morning because I couldn't stop putting it in my mouth. Good news: it's vegetarian, it has lots of fresh ingredients, lots of cheese and you can tell everyone you made homemade pesto. Because that sounds impressive, right? Little do they know homemade pesto actually requires zero-very little effort from you. I offered this dish to my tailgate friends and they wrote it off all unimpressed at first like "Pshh.. pasta salad.. that sounds typical and mediocre... there's pasta salad everywhere." Then I mentioned that it was pesto caprese pasta salad and they quickly changed their minds. We kept getting another little scoop after every glass of wine because CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP. Yes, sadly, that means I ate this for breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday. YOLO.

Servings: ~ 15ish, this is a batch fit for a tailgate - it fit in my largest mixing bowl pretty perfectly. It can easily be halved.

This is great as a dish to share, as a main dish, or as a side dish to your favorite grilled chicken, salmon or steak!

Ingredients:

For the pasta salad:
- 2 20oz bags of fresh tortellini (from the refrigerated pasta section), I used the spinach and cheese kind, any tortellini will work!
- 15oz grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 lb fresh mozzarella, cubed
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1/2 C grated parmesan (I used the grated shake kind here- it sticks to the noodles better!)

For the pesto
- 2 C fresh basil leaves
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 3/4 C olive oil
- 2/3 C shredded parmesan cheese (I grated my own here from a block)
- splash of lemon juice (I used one quarter of a lemon)
- salt and pepper to taste (I used 1/2 tsp of each)

Instructions:

- Cook your pasta according to package directions (mine took 4 minutes in boiling water)
- While you're waiting on the water to boil, place all pesto ingredients into a food processor and mix well.
- Drain the pasta, rinse with cold water and transfer to a large mixing bowl
- Pour your pesto sauce over the pasta and gently mix until pasta is well covered
- Add your grated parmesan cheese and stir again
- Gently mix in the grape tomatoes, cheese, and onion until well combined.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours so your flavors can meld.


DROOL EVERYWHERE

** I served mine about 6 hours later and splashed a little italian dressing on immediately before serving to moisten it up.

Here it is in all it's glory...