Homemade Italian Minestrone Soup
A hearty Italian minestrone with vegetables, beans and pasta in a rich tomato broth for an easy family dinner.
Tortellini Salad
This tortellini salad is a quick, crowd-pleasing dish that balances tender pasta with crisp vegetables and a punchy balsamic dressing.
It works brilliantly for make-ahead lunches, potlucks, and light dinners, and can be served straight away or lightly chilled for extra freshness.
Method
20m10m30m
- Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil. Cook the tortellini according to pack instructions until just tender, then drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.
- While the pasta cools, prep the vegetables: halve the cherry tomatoes, dice the cucumber and bell pepper, and finely slice the red onion.
- Make the dressing by whisking together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a generous pinch of salt, and black pepper until lightly emulsified.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooled tortellini, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and bell pepper. Pour over most of the dressing and toss gently to coat.
- Fold in half the parmesan and most of the basil. Taste and adjust seasoning with extra salt, pepper, or a splash more vinegar as needed.
- Transfer to a serving platter and finish with the remaining parmesan, basil, and reserved dressing. Serve immediately or chill for 20 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil extra virgin
- 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 Red Onion very finely sliced
- 1 Bell Pepper diced (any colour)
- 1 medium Cucumber deseeded and diced
- Salt, to taste
- 500 g Pasta cheese or spinach tortellini, fresh or chilled
- 50 g Parmesan Cheese finely grated
- 20 g Fresh Basil roughly torn
- 250 g Cherry Tomatoes halved
- Black Pepper freshly ground, to taste
Notes
Best texture is within a few hours of making, but leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 2 days.
If using dried tortellini, cool it completely before dressing to keep the salad fresh and not sticky.
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