Easy Penne Pasta Salad Recipe

Grilling out and summer are synonymous with one another. When the weather warms up you can smell the salivating scents of cheeseburgers, hot dogs and bratwurst in nearly every neighborhood. My cul de sac isn’t immune to this summertime right of passage however as summer passes on my family gets a little tired of having the same ole sides. Potato salad, baked beans, grilled corn and potato chips only take us so far. So with a new arsenal of recipes including this pasta salad I’m hoping to make it through the summer without any exasperated sighs of “oh not that again.”

The penne pasta grabs a hold of the mustardy dressing and gives it a much needed infusion of flavor. The acidic grape tomatoes marry together with the herbaceous basil and parsley to compliment the mustard of the salad dressing. Freshly grated parmesan cheese rounds out the sophisticated pallet of flavors while crisp zucchini and squash add a crisp texture to the salad.

For your next back yard BBQ set aside the boring potato chips and add a garden fresh punch of flavor to your table with this easy and simple penne pasta salad recipe!  Trust me once you try this, that ordinary pasta salad just won’t cut it!

Easy Penne Pasta Salad Recipe

 

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Ingredients

• 1 pound penne pasta, whole grain
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow squash, sliced into ¼-inch thick discs
• 1 zucchini squash, sliced into ¼-inch thick discs
• 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
• ½ cup packed fresh basil leaves
• ¼ cup fresh packed parsley leaves
• ¼ cup red onions raw (optional)
• Grated Parmesan cheese or bucatini to serve

Dressing

• Dressing:
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade, and quartered
• 3 tablespoons stone ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flake
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

1. Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente and drain well.
2. Toss with ground black pepper and olive oil.
3. For the dressing, add the vinegar to a blender and replace the lid.
4. Turn on the blender add, 1 at a time through the feed opening, garlic, mustard, oregano, basil, salt, and black pepper.
5. Leaving the blender running, add the olive oil in a slow thin stream.
6. Toss together the pasta, yellow squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, basil and parsley with enough of the dressing to coat.
7. Serve any additional dressing on the side.

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