Herbed Pasta Salad with Garlic Aioli Cream

By Tamipri

Ingredients

• Pasta Salad:
• 4 zucchinis
• 5 summer squashes
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1/2 Tb. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 c. cubed thick-sliced smoked bacon, cooked until crispy
• 1 1/2 c. coarsely chopped Kalamata olives
• 2 c. halved cherry tomatoes
• 2 lb. cooked penne pasta, cooled
• 2 Tb. chopped fresh parsely
• salt and pepper
• Cream:
• 1 head garlic
• 2 Tb. olive oil
• 2 c. cream
• 1/4 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• /2 tsp. salt

Details

Servings 16

Preparation

Step 1

1. For the Cream: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Slice top off head of garlic, exposing cloves. Place cut side up on a sheet of foil large enough to wrap around entire head of garlic. Pour olive oil over exposed garlic cloves and wrap tightly with foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake until garlic is soft, 25-30 minutes. Cool.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine cream and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and reduce until about 1 1/4 cups remain, about 20 minutes.

4. For the Pasta Salad: while cream is reducing, preheat grill to 350-400 degrees. Slice squashes and zucchinis lengthwise in 1/2" slices and drizzle with olive oil. Grill 3-4 minutes per side, turning once. Slightly cool and cut into chunks. In a large bowl, mix squash, zucchini, lemon juice, bacon, olives, and tomatoes. Add pasta and gently toss.

5. Finish Cream by squeezing garlic cloves into a medium-size bowl and mixing with mayonnaise. Whisk in cream mixture until smooth. Pour 1 cup of cream over pasta salad, and serve remaining cream on the side. Add parsely and salt and pepper to taste to pasta salad.