Thursday, June 14, 2012

Pasta Salad with Roasted Corn and Olives

This summer my husband and I will celebrate our eleventh wedding anniversary.  We both wanted a simple small wedding that was low budget so instead of a reception we had a morning wedding followed by a luncheon for family and close friends.  My mother planned the food for the lunch.  To save her sanity she had a few of the items catered but most of it she did herself.  My mom is an amazing cook and I was the sixth child to get married so she was pretty much a pro at this point (Did I mention that I only gave my mom two months to prepare?  We went for the short engagement).

My Mom and I


About a month before the wedding I came home after work to find my mom had two pasta salads in the fridge for me to taste.  I have no recollection of one, but the other I completely fell in love with.  This pasta salad will never get confused with one that originated from a box.  Fresh basil, olives, and roasted corn give this salad bold flavor.  She made this one for my wedding and I have been enjoying the recipe ever since.

My thoughtful Mother packed up some leftovers and put them into an ice chest and sent them with us as we left on a road trip for our honeymoon.  We had planned on eating out on our honeymoon (actually I am pretty sure we didn't "plan" anything for food), and we ate at some great restaurants that week.  But when driving through the middle of nowhere eating pasta salad and other wedding food was much preferred to the fast food joints that were our only other option.  Thanks Mom!

 I always try to post the source for my recipes but I don't know for sure where this one came form.  It is strikingly similar to this one on Epicurious.  I think my mom just made a few additions to make it more flavorful.


Pasta Salad with Roasted Corn and Olives

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups frozen corn , thawed
5 Tablespoons olive oil
5 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon sugar
6 oz. sliced olives
1/4 cup chopped dried tomatoes in olive oil or bottled roasted red peppers, chopped
8 oz. spiral pasta, cooked
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil 
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
Tomatoes, chopped -optional

Directions:

Saute corn in fry pan about 3 minutes.   

Combine  olive oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, and sugar.
Mix the corn , dressing, and the rest of the ingredients and serve.   This can be made the day before, but add a little more oil & vinegar before serving.   Serves 6-8

4 comments:

  1. Hi! Thanks for sharing this recipe. We love pasta salad at our house, so I'll have to give it try next time. :)

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  2. I hope you get a chance to try it, especially when fresh basil is in season.

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  3. I was excited to try this as pasta salad is one of my favorites. I followed the recipe exactly. Are you sure it's 5 TBSP red wine vinegar? The salad had such a strong vinegar taste. I even added more corn, but still so strong we couldn't eat it. Also, by using red wine vinegar & mustard, it turns the salad a reddish brown color and yours is so white and pretty. Please tell me if the ingredients are correct. I spent a lot of time making this, but not very good.
    Thank you,

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    Replies
    1. Hmmmm . . . I double checked the ingredients and 5 tablespoons is correct. I use equal amounts of olive oil and vinegar. The dressing is supposed to be pretty thin and light. I have never had it visible before. Did you perhaps not use enough olive oil or not cook enough pasta? I'll pay close attention next time I make it. Thanks for the feedback, so sorry it didn't turn out for you.

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