Recently I made lunch for a group of my grandmother’s friends, and I thought I’d share the recipe with you guys. I know it’s not reading, writing, or doodling, but I did it, so I’m writing about it. Deal.
Vaguely Mediterranean Pasta Salad:
(measurements for ingredients are adjusted…AKA iffy…because the first recipe made, like, twenty servings)
1/2 pound of pasta (ish…enough for four people)
1 tbsp capers
3/4 cup artichoke hearts
1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
8-10 button mushrooms
1/2 red union
1/4 Kalamata olives
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 garlic cloves
15-17 shrimp, no shells
lemon juice (measurements later)
pesto (measurements later)
Steps:
1. Slice the zucchini and squash, then grill them until tender. Also grill the mushrooms. Cut up everything into bite-sized pieces.
2. Cut the Kalamata olives, roasted red bell peppers, and artichoke hearts into bite sized pieces. Chop the capers into smaller pieces.
3. Slice the onions and dice the garlic. Then saute them together until the onions are sweet and almost clear.
4. Make the dressing. It’s one part lemon juice, three parts pesto (I used basil), and two parts the oil from the artichoke hearts (from the jar…just strain it out). Since I made this in such a large quantity, I don’t have exact measurements for this part. Go off of what tastes good, basically.
5. Cut the shrimp in half. If they were frozen and you defrosted them in water (which works really well), dry them on paper towels before cooking.
6. Saute the shrimp in olive oil, using the same pan as the onions, so as to take advantage of the flavor they left in the pan. This should take about 5-7 minutes. Then toss them with some of the dressing, incorporating the natural juices from the shrimp–they taste amazing.
7. Cook the pasta. That part’s simple. I used squiggly pasta that looks like this:
8. Mix everything together in a really big bowl with the cheese and serve.
Enjoy!
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