New Recipe #9: Tortellini-asparagus salad

The grill is on the patio, JG is wrapping up his spring-semester grad class, and I am fending off air-conditioning-induced frostbite at work, which can only mean one thing: spring is really upon us.

I’m aware that I’m in the minority when I say this, but I don’t really love spring. Its biggest offender is its unrelenting attack of allergies on my system, which are made only worse by spring showers, ostentatiously flowering trees, and my neighbors’ (and husband’s) infernal need to mow. I prefer cold-weather clothing, and I sweat at the drop of a hat, so the signs of oncoming humidity do not send me to rejoicing. The countdown until fall is on, and until then, I wither.

As if to add insult to injury, my beloved casserole is on the outs because no one wants to eat heavy food, much less heat up the entire house with the oven. I admit that the onslaught of fresh, sweet produce softens the blow a bit, but my cooking repertoire is sharply reduced once the oven is no longer a primary cooking vessel. Grilling makes for fast and tasty dinners, but it does not so much help out in the leftovers department.

To help assuage my yearning for the casserole, I’ve been hunting down recipes for pasta salads that will be my summertime replacement. We have two reliable dishes so far, but that is not nearly enough to carry us through. With that in mind, I tried out a tortellini-asparagus salad to go with hamburgers and hot dogs on Friday.

I chose this recipe because I liked how it used a stuffed pasta (substantial enough for a future lunch), and it seemed like the process was pretty intuitive: chop vegetables, cook pasta, blanch vegetables quickly, dress with vinaigrette, and chill. To be fair, the process was fine; however, I ran into a few mishaps of my own making:

• The salad is supposed to chill for 2-8 hours before serving, but since I was in no mood to whip up a quick pasta salad before heading out to work, I was under kind of a tight deadline when I got home. All told, the salad chilled for not even an hour, but I think that was fine. Next time, I will relegate this salad to a weekend project or delegate it to JG’s capable hands.
• I shortsightedly only bought one lemon, which was not nearly enough to produce the prescribed amounts of lemon zest or juice for the dressing. I am kind of indignant when lemon ingredients are not given in terms of lemons, which is a quantity I can understand when I am making my shopping list. Next time, I’ll go for at least two lemons.
• I followed the directions to use a screw-top jar to make the vinaigrette, only to realize that while a jar is good for shaking, it’s not good for measuring, so I had to eyeball a lot of things. Next time, I will probably just use a measuring cup and a whisk.
• When I didn’t have enough lemon juice, I topped it off with vinegar because I figured that acid is acid, so what the heck? The resulting dressing was only slightly lemon-flavored, but everyone agreed that they liked it better that way. I’m conflicted because I want to follow the recipe, but I tend to have a higher tolerance for lemony goodness than the common man. Next time, I might split the difference and use more lemon juice, but not as much as the recipe says.
• I neglected to taste the dressing before I splashed it all over everything, which induced a minor panic, so I would not recommend being so rash.

Nevertheless, JG declared this salad a keeper, and our two guests enthusiastically agreed. I’m glad to have a new, non-casserole dish in the recipe binder, and I have a hunch that this formula of tortellini and lemon vinaigrette will be accommodating to a variety of different vegetables once asparagus is out of season. With enough pasta salad (and allergy medication), I think I can manage to make it through spring.

(Recipe after the jump)

Tortellini-Asparagus Salad
Better Homes and Gardens
Yields: 10 side-dish servings

Ingredients

• 2 9-ounce packages refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini*
• 1 pound fresh asparagus spears (about 16 spears) trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large yellow sweet pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil or salad oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions (about 4)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts or chopped almonds, toasted

Directions

1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven** cook tortellini according to package directions, adding asparagus and sweet pepper during the last minute of cooking; drain. Rinse tortellini and vegetables with cold water; drain again.
2. For dressing, in a screw-top jar combine lemon peel, lemon juice, oil, mustard, sugar, salt, and garlic. Cover and shake well.
3. In a very large bowl place tortellini and vegetables. Add dressing; toss to coat. Cover and chill for 2 to 8 hours. Just before serving, stir in cheese, green onions, and nuts. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

* I used a pound of frozen tortellini with no ill effects other than adjusting the cooking time accordingly.

** We don’t have one, so I used our pasta pot.