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Saturday, February 7, 2015

July Secret Recipe Club Featuring Pesto Pasta Salad

This year is whooshing by so quickly...its already time for another fun Secret Recipe Club reveal. This month, I was assigned the blog Claire K Creations. Claire lives in Australia with her husband and adorable baby boy, Ollie. We have quite a bit in common -- we both love to cook, but we dont like to spend hours in the kitchen. We also both love to dine out and travel, so I had a great time reading through her blog looking for a recipe to share. I ended up selecting her flavorful Pesto Pasta Salad for our July 4th weekend menu. Michael has been on a pesto kick recently, so I knew hed really enjoy this quick-cook Summer dish! Flavored with bold basil pesto and tangy feta, its got the big flavors I love.

 Its Winter in Australia, so a pasta salad may seem odd to Claire when she reads this. However, its 90+ here in Texas now that its July, so a cold pasta salad is just what we were looking for this weekend. I made one tweak to Claires original recipe, subbing diced Roma tomato and sweet corn kernels for the roasted sweet potato in her recipe. I had those veggies on hand, and it seemed a bit more Summery. This pasta salad can be made up to a day ahead, making it perfect for busy warm-weather entertaining. Feel free to use any pasta you like, but I opted to use a healthy high-protein, high-fiber pasta. Wait until you see how easy this great pasta salad is to whip up!

Pesto Pasta Salad
adapted from Claire K Creations

Ingredients:
  • 14.5-ounce box corkscrew pasta 
  • 1/2 cup prepared pesto
  • 1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 1 cup baby spinach leaves
  • 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
  • 1 Roma tomato, seeded and chopped
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Step 1: Cook the pasta in well-salted water according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and add to a large mixing bowl. Let the pasta cool for a few minutes. Then, add the pesto, olive oil, feta, spinach, corn, tomato, and salt & pepper. 
Step 2: Stir with a sturdy spoon just until the ingredients are evenly combined -- being careful not to break up the feta cheese too much. Refrigerate the pasta salad until chilled -- about 4 hours. Transfer to a pretty serving bowl/platter and serve.
This pasta salad is amazing! I love how the pesto flavors the pasta with basil, parmesan, garlic, olive oil, and pine nuts. The warm pasta wilts the spinach perfectly, and the feta provides a tangy burst of flavor. The combo of tomato and corn just screams Summer. I especially love that this pasta salad is light and refreshing -- unlike mayo-based pasta salads. I can see myself making this great pasta salad all Summer long.

I hope youll check out the other recipes that my fellow Secret Recipe Club members are sharing today. I always find at least one or two new recipes to try out each month, and this month is no exception. Click the links below to visit that recipes page.

An InLinkz Link-up



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