The Independence Day holiday weekend is officially over… and most people are back to their usual summer routine. I’m busier than usual taking the fondant cake course on top of my usual day job (which seriously gets in the way of me having a real life!).  I was very glad to not have to think about dinner last night and rely on Ina Garten instead.  The first Barefoot Bloggers recipe for July was chosen by Cat of the blog Delta Whiskey. Her choice was Ina’s recipe for Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes.    Really it’s more of a pasta salad since it’s served cold but it came together quickly and easily… something for which I was very grateful indeed!

This week was meeting #1 of my fondant cake course.  Sadly, we barely touched any fondant instead learning (or in my case, re-learning) several buttercream techniques.  NEXT week, however, we’re covering our first fondant cake.  It will be square, with a big fondant bow and lots of fondant appliqués.   If you’ve got suggestions regarding color schemes… leave a comment because I’d really like to do something with real visual impact.  Oh!  And any thoughts on cake flavor and filling… leave that as a comment too!  Hey… who says I don’t aim to please :-)

As I spent quite a bit of time Monday night making frosting… and Tuesday night working with frosting… by Wednesday night I was pretty darn glad to make a dish that was savory as opposed to sweet. I happen to love sundried tomatoes and had a jar in the cupboard just waiting to be used for something special – I thought this might be it!  The recipe calls for a few ingredients that I ended up substituting, forgetting or just omitting altogether! LOL!  We’re not big fans of olives (and I didn’t have olives on hand anyway) so they were to first to go.  I discovered I had no mozzarella whatsoever so yup, that was omitted too – but I did have a block of feta cheese so I crumbled that in :)   I only had a very small chunk of parmesan so I grated it as more of a garnish than an ingredient.  And the basil?  I’ve got a beautiful, healthy, robust basil plant in my herb garden… and I did pick some of it for this dish… but I completely forgot to include it!  After the pasta was all assembled and I was ready to photograph, I found the basil on the counter, had no recollection of what it was for and decided it would make a pretty garnish for the dish… d’oh!

Aside from all that drama, the dish came together easily and quickly.  If I were to make this again I’d serve it hot… and add a bit of protein to it – either pepperoni or hot italian sausage! M’mmmm now that’d be reeeeeeeeeally tasty :)

If you’d like the recipe it can be found here on the FoodNetwork site.   One word of caution however… there is a substantial typo in the written recipe that I discovered in reading thru the reviews.  There should be ONE POUND of pasta… not 1/2pound as written.   This is a nice hot-weather main dish or side dish or pasta salad for a gathering.   When the weather cools off, serve it warm with a leafy green salad and some crusty french bread and you’ve got yourself a meal.

Please take a moment and check out the results of the other Barefoot Bloggers – I bet they didn’t forget the basil ;-)

Have a delicious day!