Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Peas

sugarpea's Note:

Tasty and colorful celebration of summer's bounty with a homemade vinaigrette. A good way to use all those pear and cherry tomatoes from the garden or the farmer's market. This recipe will serve 10-12 for get togethers.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 lb medium pasta shell
• 1⁄3; cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon or ½ teaspoon dried tarragon , crumbled
• 1 clove garlic , minced and mashed to a paste with
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• pepper
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ lb shelled peas , boiled until tender,drained,fresh or frozen (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 4 cups combination red pear tomatoes or 4 cups yellow pear tomatoes or 4 cups cherry tomatoes , halved
• ½ cup shredded fresh basil leaf

Directions:

1. Boil pasta in large pot of salted water until al dente; drain and rinse to cool.
2. In a large bowl whisk together vinegar, water, salt, sugar, tarragon, garlic paste and pepper to taste; add the oil while whisking until it is emulsified.
3. Add pasta, peas, tomatoes and basil; toss well.

Reviews

[KristiJoy]

I just made this for a church potluck and thought it was really good. Unfortunately I didn't have tarragon so I used a little fennel. It still worked, but the tarragon would have been much better, I'm sure. Also I totally forgot to add the basil at the end. It was good without, but that would have made it even better and prettier too. Thank you for posting this!

[evelyn/athens]

Lovely salad - very light and fresh-tasting. Tested this for my son's birthday party (making a 1/2 portion) and it got a thumbs up by everyone in the family, including the greenophobe (my son HATES anything green) who is having the birthday. I was tempted to use a second garlic clove but restrained myself and am glad I did so - another would have overwhelmed the delicate taste of the peas and tarragon. Oh, this looked very pretty too. Thanks sugarpea - this is on the menu again Sunday. :-)