Italian Pasta Salad

Summer is close and I’m loving all the fresh veggies at the grocery store. This is one easy pasta salad that I love to make during the summer. You can still make it anytime of the year, but it’s always so good to use fresh summer tomatoes and fresh basil.

With only five ingredients it couldn’t get any easier to make. And it’s good!! It’s great for a picnic or to take for a gathering. All you need is pasta, mozzarella cheese round, grape tomatoes, italian dressing, and basil.

Don’t over cook the pasta. You want the pasta al dente, still a bit firm to hold up in the salad with the tomatoes. Start with only 1/2 – 3/4 of the bottle of italian dressing. You can add more if needed after tasting. I like mine with just a bit of flavoring from the dressing but not too much. Stick the mozzarella ball in the freezer for a bit to make it easier to cut into pieces.

I’m looking forward to the summer but I’m really looking forward to meeting our little baby boy in August. We have lots to plan for and lots to do before our little one gets here. We started registering and it’s a little over whelming. I’m wondering what I really need and can’t live without. There’s a lot of things that go with a baby, but do you need everything? To all the mom’s out there, what is your MUST have with a newborn?

Happy Spring!

Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 box Rotini Pasta

1 bottle Italian Dressing (to liking)

1 pint grape tomatoes

10 – 12 basil leave shredded or 1 tsp dried basil

1 mozzarella cheese round diced

Directions:

Cook pasta as directed on box and drain. Mix pasta with 3/4 of the bottle of italian dressing.  Start with using half of the bottle and then add more if you want more. Cut tomatoes in half add to pasta. Add cheese pieces, basil and toss to coat. Taste and add more dressing if needed. Chill for up to at least an hour before serving.