Sasha's Kitchen: Pasta with Pesto, Feta and Grape Tomatoes

Time for another delicious pasta dish. And some like it hot, some like it cold. This one is good either way. The first time I made this last week, I used store bought bow tie pasta and it was a big hit here at home.  Then, earlier this week, I received a shipment of organic Italian pastas from ShopRite to sample, all from the Lombardy region of Italy. So I tried it out with a one pound bag of ShopRite's radiatore pasta, and it was superb.  The ShopRite pastas are excellent, and it had a lovely, perfect al dente texture. I am such a fan of the radiatore that I can't wait to try out some of the other pastas that ShopRite sent me to sample (free of charge, of course :).

At any rate, this dish combines the pasta with flavors of red onion, pesto, feta cheese and broiled grape tomatoes. It's a delicious combination of flavors, and as I said before, can be served either hot or cold. A Sasha-pasta creation at its finest!

delicious Organic Italian pastas I received to sample from ShopRite

Sasha's Pasta with Pesto, Feta and Grape Tomatoes (serves 6)
1 lb ShopRite radiatore pasta, or bow tie pasta
2 containers grape tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 8 oz packages of feta cheese
1 red onion, diced
leaves of 1 bunch of basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Prepare the pesto in a food processor by blending the basil leaves with the olive oil and pine nuts (also known as pignolia nuts - I love that word!). Set aside. Broil the tomatoes for about 20 minutes at 450. Saute the red onion in olive oil for several minutes, then add the garlic, and saute until the onion is translucent. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente, and rinse. Combine the pesto, onion/garlic, pasta and crumbled feta cheese. Serve hot or allow to chill. Another great thing about this dish is that it results in plenty of leftovers for the next night, which makes it perfect for busy weekday cooking - double returns!