Broccoli Bacon Tortellini Salad

My husband’s family had a barbecue over the long weekend to celebrate both Memorial Day, and his grandparent’s 66th wedding anniversary. Can you imagine being married for 66 years?? 

So there I was staring at the contents of the refrigerator and trying to come up with a side dish we could bring when my gaze landed on leftover steamed broccoli and a package of tortellini and instantly ‘pasta salad’ popped into my head. Now, I’m not a big salad fan, just sayin’ – but my husband loves salads of every imaginable combination. And his family is Italian – I mean, really Italian, which means it’s olive oil and vinegar, not mayo, that’s coming to the party. Given all this, I decided to wrangle my husband into helping me prepare this salad, which ended up being a big hit.

Steam the broccoli until al dente, drain and rinse with cold water and set aside (or if you’re lucky and have a pile leftover like me, just pull it out of the fridge! heehee!)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a dash of salt and cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside to cool.

While you wait for the water to boil, roughly chop the dried cherries, finely chop the onion and thinly chop the fresh basil.

We were preparing the dish at my Mum’s house, and my husband wasn’t so sure on those three ingredients. He’s a thinker… a slow one… It took a bit of convincing from me and Mum to get him to step out of his box and toss those into the salad – OK, so actually Mum just chopped and tossed… but the sweet-tartness of the dried cherries with the crunch and bite of the onion really made a great impact in the flavor.

And the basil… well, I did mention these folks are Italian right? And did you know that in Italy, basil means love? What better ingredient for a salad at a cookout to celebrate 66 years of marriage!

So back to the cooking… if you’re having your husband help (and even if you’re not), I suggest that when you cook your bacon, you add a couple extra slices for munching… I mean, really, who can resist hot crispy bacon?? Once the bacon cools, chop into small pieces and reserve half.

In a large bowl, toss together the pasta and the broccoli. Add the oil, vinegar and seasonings, toss to coat. Add all the onions, cherries, and cheese and half the bacon.

Refrigerate for 1 hour so the flavors meld. Just before serving, add the reserved bacon. Store any leftovers (we had just enough for my husband to snack on later) in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!