Picnic Basket Pasta Salad

For Mother's Day this year I wanted to do something a little different. My friends Vanessa & Sean recently took us to one of their favorite wineries so I could take pictures of them for my photography final, and I loved it there so much I decided to take my mom and brother there for Mother's Day. 

 

Since I knew we were going to be wine tasting and having a picnic, I figured we should have something substantial to munch on to soak up some of the wine. Cheese, crackers, and fruit are standard wine pairing fare, so those were a go, but I wanted to make something heartier. Cue the picnic favorite: pasta salad! Mayo-free pasta salad, that is. Let's have a preview:

[More on this in a sec!)]

 

I'm always trying to think up new ways to make pasta salads, so as to not bore folks with the overdone Italian dressing over shells with black olives, Kraft cheese, and cucumber. We can do better than that! For some reason the idea to coat the pasta in tomato soup popped into my head! I get crazy ideas sometimes! I LOVE creamy tomato soup and I loved this idea because it took some time out of the prep process for me on a day when I would be rising early and  having a bunch of other errands to complete before traveling to the winery for the day. Always love a time saver!

 

So for the tomato soup, I recommend buying a grocery store brand. At my Harris Teeter, they always have their store brand of soup warmed up at the salad bar, as well as jars of it for sale in the refrigerated section. That's where I picked up the batch I used for this recipe. Please, whatever you do, do not use canned tomato soup from the soup aisle. Blah.

 

The cheeses: I was looking for a smoked mozzarella, but wasn't able to find it in the grocery store or even specialty market, so I went with the next best thing - fresh mozz and a smoked, semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Bavaria. If you're able to find smoked mozz, buy it and use all of that instead of getting two different cheeses as you see in my recipe below.

 

This pasta salad turned out to be delish and matched up perfectly with the beautiful day we enjoyed at the vineyard. We brought Milli along and enjoyed the sunshine.

[Milli taking a break in the shade.]

[Mom & bro fawning over Milli, as per usual.]

 



OK let's get picnicking!

 



Tomato Soup Pasta Salad

Servings: 1 large bowl

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: Approximately 30 minutes

 

Ingredients:

1 medium sized zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 16 ounce jar pre-made tomato soup

2 handfuls grape tomatoes, cut into thirds

3 slices prosciutto, cut into 1/2 inch strips length-wise

3/4 of a 1 pound bag/box (so, 12 oz) of dry fusilli brown rice pasta

6 large leaves fresh basil, julienned

4 ounces smoked bruder basil cheese (or gouda), cubed

4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cubed

About 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayn sea salt

About 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (FCBP)

 

Start by pre-heating your grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.

 

Lay your zucchini slices on a flat surface and brush the olive oil onto the top side of each slice. 



Sprinkle the slices with a pinch of salt and FCBP.

Place the slices of zucchini seasoned side down on your grill/grill pan.

Cook the zucchini on the first side for about five minutes, or until you get a nice char & grill marks. Then flip them over to cook on the second side.

While the zucchini is grilling, cook your tomato soup. Place a small pot on the stove over medium heat, pour in the soup, and bring to a boil.

 Once the soup comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer until it's thickened and less soup-y, about 10 minutes. Once it's thickened, remove it from the heat and set aside to cool.

 

At this time, also boil the water for your pasta. Place a large pot filled 3/4 full with water on the stove over high heat. When the water boils, pour in the pasta and set a timer for it to cook as long as indicated on the box/bag. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander in the sink while running cold water from the faucet over it. Once drained, place the pasta in a large bowl to cool.

When the zucchini is softened and slightly charred on the second side, remove it from the heat and place the slices on a clean plate to cool while you finish the rest of the salad.

Next, cook the prosciutto. Place a non-stick pan on the stove over medium-high heat and lay the strips of prosciutto in the pan like so:

Cook the prosciutto on each side for two minutes. Once it's crispy, remove it from the pan and place on a plate covered in paper towels to drain and cool.

By now, the zucchini should be cooled. Place a couple/three slices on top of each other, slice through the slices down the center length-wise, and then cut width-wise into thirds or fourths, depending on the length of slices, like this:

To chop up the crispy prosciutto, place the strips on your cutting board and run a sharp knife through until you get large crumbs. 

 

Now you're ready to assemble the salad!

Pour the cooled, thickened tomato soup over the plain pasta.

Stir to thoroughly coat the pasta in the soup/sauce. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and stir again.

Add the grilled zucchini and tomatoes.

Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and toss.

Add the fresh basil and gently toss.

Add the baby spinach, a final pinch of salt, and about a 1/4 teaspoon FCBP. Toss.

If you're taking this salad to a picnic, I recommend saving the cheese & prosciutto to add when you arrive. This keeps everything fresh and not soggy.

For picnicking, place the pasta salad in a glass or plastic to-go container and make sure to pack it with lots of ice in your picnic basket or cooler. Place the cheese in a food storage baggie and do the same with the prosciutto crumbs, adding them to your picnic basket/cooler close to the ice packs.

When you arrive at the picnic, pour the cheese over the pasta and toss it with the rest of the salad.

You can do the same with the prosciutto, but I kept it on the side so that vegetarians (me!) could eat the dish without the meat and meat-eaters could add it to their own plates.

Serve yourself a large helping and enjoy with a glass of wine.

Salute!