Girls Night In! - Pasta Salad

The third salad is a pasta salad I created on my own.

Alanna's Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 package rotini pasta (I used the 3-color kind)
1 can pitted black olives
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
oregano to taste
salt & pepper to taste

Roasted Garlic Viniagrette: (I doubled all these ingredients because I had a large bag of pasta.)
1 bulb of garlic
splash of olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons chicken stock
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon

For the dressing:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Slice off the top of the garlic bulb, just enough to barely expose the garlic inside each clove. Place the bulb in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with olive oil. Place the dish, uncovered, in the oven and cook the garlic until it is golden brown and soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool.

3. When the roasted garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the pulp from 6 of the cloves and mash with a mortar and pestle, or with a fork. (Store the remaining cloves in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.)

4. Put the garlic in a food processor and add the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper and puree.

5. Slowly add the olive oil and stock through the feed tube, and puree until the vinaigrette is creamy. If it is too thick add a teaspoon of stock until the consistency is correct.

6. Add the shallots and tarragon. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

(This dressing is SO good! You can also use it on salads pizza, etc.)

For the salad:
Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Mix pasta, olives, and tomatoes.
Toss pasta mixture with viniagrette and season with oregano, salt and pepper.