It’s still a bit chilly, but I’m moving into spring. We have a recipe that’s simple, great and full of flavor. Try this salad as a main course or add a piece of grilled chicken, salmon or portabella mushroom to the top for a quick meal solution. Best of all, increase the quantity after you make this recipe once and you have a lunch solution!

The best thing about making pasta dishes are, with so many sizes and shapes on the market you can be pretty creative. So whether you’re cooking for 1 or more, try some different shapes periodically and your guest will comment on how you always make something NEW and inventive. See who gets invited back to the next party!

Don’t forget when you cook pasta use 3 parts water to 1 part pasta; add a bit of salt to the water after it comes up to a boil. Then add your pasta, stir and bring back to a boil then reduce to a simmer and stir again gently. Dry pasta takes about 8 minutes to cook where fresh is about 4minutes or less, it depends on the size. But the correct ratio of water to pasta is a key to uniform cooking. There are some other notes, but keep coming back to our site and learn more. Also, read the recipe through fist and see how you can add to or be inspired with what you have on hand.

Campanelle* pasta with spinach & feta

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Campanelle pasta – follow cooking instructions on the bag
• 1 bag baby spinach- rinse in cold water & picked over to removed bruised leaves
• 6oz. crumbled feta cheese
• ½ cup Kalamata olives (pitted), sliced in half
• 2 T. fresh basil – cut in strips or chopped
• ½ cup of balsamic vinaigrette – your favorite or try what’s on sale?

Procedure:

The best thing I find that helps me in cooking is have all the ingredients out and ready to go.

1. Cook the pasta, drain and cool down with running water. Don’t let it chill all the way. Drain well and toss in a large bowl.
2. Add the spinach, and toss.
3. Add the remaining ingredients & toss gently to combine.

TIP: This recipe tastes best if you let the ingredients marry for 1 hour.

Some variations to our salad are raw thinly sliced tri-color peppers, yellow squash or zucchini (outer part) insides to bitter raw or chopped walnuts.

*CAMPANELLE Literally, “bell blowers,” this delicate-looking but sturdy shape has fluted, petal-like edges and a hollow center for capturing sauce. Pronounced cahm-pah-NELL-lay.

~ Ciao!