My sister LOVES Giada De Laurentiis! Because of my sister, several of Giada’s recipes are now staples in our house. The first time I had this pasta salad, my sister made it and brought it to a party. It was delicious. Since then I have made it dozens of times. Everyone always loves it. It is light and refreshing and tastes like summer.
I have found that this pasta salad goes perfectly with grilled salsiccia. This combo is great for lunch, dinner and fun to serve at a party. I pile the orzo into the middle of a platter and surround it with salsiccia. If I’m serving a lot of people I will cut the salsiccia into chunks; it will serve more people that way.
If you want to make the pasta salad exactly as Giada does, click here. I make a couple minor tweaks but I think they make it a little easier and a little tastier. Oh, and don’t forget you need to use toasted pine nuts for this recipe.
Tri-Colore Orzo Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb Orzo Pasta
- ¼ c Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 c Arugula about 3 oz
- ¾ c crumbled Feta Cheese
- ½ c Dried Cherries
- 12 Basil Leaves torn
- ½ c Pine Nuts toasted
- 3 T fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Once boiling, add a large amount of salt and cook the Orzo until al dente (about 8 minutes).
- This is probably the only time I will ever say this but … drain the pasta and rinse it thoroughly in cold water.
- Put the rinsed orzo into a large mixing bowl.
- Pour in the olive oil and toss.
- Tear the arugula a bit with your hands and add to the bowl.
- Add all the remaining ingredients and toss everything together.
Notes
I’m pretty sure I ate 5 servings of this at your house once. So good!