22nd
Cannellini and Macaroni Salad with Grilled Tomatoes, Basil, and Olives a.k.a. The Salad
Around our house, this is called The Salad. It’s so good, it’s singular. It’s a glorious use of tomatoes (even if they’ve gone a little wrinkly) and if you can get past the herb-chopping, it’s easy. The recipe below divides the recipe into two parts—a pasta salad and a bean salad—which makes for a beautiful presentation. However for a regular weeknight meal, we tend to just mix the whole thing up in one bowl. (I mean, seriously, we don’t need a platter. We are not that fancy.) Also, I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually fire up the grill just for tomatoes. Halving them and throwing them on a rimmed baking sheet under the broiler (cut-side-down, drizzled with some olive oil) for 12-15 minutes does the trick, and leaves you with lots of good juices.
When we made this tonight for the first time this season, P. said wistfully into his bowl, “I missed you, The Salad!”
Ingredients:
- 1.5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
- 1.5 cups small elbow macaroni (about 6 ounces—whole wheat pasta works well in this even if you are a skeptic about whole wheat pasta)
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion (I caution you: more than this is overwhelming)
- 1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives or other brine-cured olives
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 8 oz. fresh mozzarella, diced -or- packaged in those cute pearl or cherry-tomato-sized balls
How to:
If grilling your tomatoes, prepare grill (medium-high heat). Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon oil over cut side of tomatoes; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill tomatoes, cut side up, until skin begins to char, about 2 minutes; turn over and grill, cut side down, just until heated through, about 1 minute. Alternatively, prepare by broiler method as above.
Cool + cut tomatoes into 1-inch pieces—I like my tomato chunks kinda big and, um, rustic. Yeah, let’s go with rustic rather than lazily-not-very-well-chopped.
Cook macaroni in large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain well. Transfer macaroni to large bowl; cool. Mix in grilled tomatoes and any accumulated juices, 2 tablespoons vinegar, basil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer salad to large platter (or, if you’re not feeling fancy, just pile the rest of the ingredients from the next paragraph in this same bowl…).
Mix beans, onion, olives, parsley, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 tablespoon vinegar in medium bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper—the olives will be quite salty so be careful not to overdo it. Spoon bean salad over center of macaroni salad and serve.
Adapted from Epicurious, which for some reason doesn’t put cheese in this salad, something I find to be a criminal missed opportunity.
