Bowtie Sundried Tomato Salad

Cook a pound of bowtie (or your favorite) pasta, (al dente!) with a pinch of sea salt in the boiling water. Drain and cool by running cold water over pasta into the colander, unless you plan to eat it warm, in which case just drain without rinsing.

Toss pasta with:
sundried tomatoes*, loads of fresh basil, a pound (more or less) of fresh mozzarella** and your favorite homemade balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing***, a good sprinkle of dried oregano, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

*For ‘dried’ sundried tomatoes: I bring them back to life by letting them simmer in a small saucepan with a little water to barely cover, olive oil and dried oregano for about 3 minutes. They can sit in the pot while you prepare the rest of the dish, and then throw the whole pot (juice and all) into the salad with your oil and vinegar, etc. You can use the ones in jars of oil, either whole or julienned, also but pull those out with a fork.

**If you don’t have fresh mozzarella cheese, you can use Polly-O or Sargento, or your favorite.

***Extra virgin olive oil or a light olive oil and the best balsamic vinegar you can find. This salad is slightly ‘sweet’ because of the good balsamic and fresh basil.

Try white balsamic if you want to want to keep the mozzarella and pasta “white.” You can also make this with a good bottled dressing in a pinch.
Adding grilled chicken to this makes a delicious meal. Serve warm or refrigerate to serve cold.