Tortellini Salad With Tomato Garlic Dressing Recipe 455

Steps:

• For the Tortellini Salad: Into a long rectangular dish or container that has a fitted lid, gently combined the cooked, cooled tortellinis mixed with a tablespoon olive oil, the sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and scallions. Stir the other one tablespoon of olive oil throughout the salad then fold in the fresh herbs, along with the salt and pepper, refrigerate until a few hours before serving. For the Dressing Scrape the grated tomatoes into a large glass mixing bowl then stir in the chopped garlic. Pour in the vinegar,drizzle in olive oil a little at a time whisking to incorporate with the tomato mixture. Add in the salt and pepper, check seasoning adding a little more salt and pepper to suited taste. Refrigerate until 3 hours before serving. Salad Assembly: Three hours before serving whisk dressing together then pour half into the Tortellini Salad and stir throughout. Immediately before serving salad pour in the remaining dressing and stir, adding in any extra seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer Tortellini Salad from container to a large serving platter lined with fresh greens if desired. Notes If the tortellini salad is mixed with the dressing too far in advance the tortellini will absorb the dressing taking the flavor from the tortellini's as well as losing the bright red color of the red tomatoes in the dressing.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the tortellini. Place the peppers in a roasting pan and roast in preheated oven, checking every 15 minutes, and turning them with tongs until the skin is fully wrinkled and charred black. White the peppers are roasting, boil tortellini until al dente, drain, and set aside to cool. Put the charred peppers into a bowl filled with a couple of inches of ice water. Once cooled, you can then use your fingers to work quickly to slip off and discard the skins of the peppers while they are in the water. Transfer them to a plate, peel away any remnants of the charred skins, slice open and remove the stem and seeds, then julienne the peppers and set aside.
• Through the feed opening of a running blender, add scallions, garlic cloves, sun-dried tomatoes, and 1/2 cup of the fresh basil leaves (packed), reserving the rest of the basil. Add the vinegar and blend until a paste is formed, then leaving the blender running, add the olive oil in a slow steady stream allowing the mixture to emulsify. Season the dressing with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Julienne the rest of the basil (except for the sprigs for garnish). Toss with the tortellini, julienned red bell peppers, and dressing. Transfer to serving dish and decorate with reserved basil sprigs. Can be served at room temperature or chilled.