Labor Day Pasta Salad

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

By The Associated Press For Labor Day, serve pasta with a no-cook
sauce. Made with a few simple in- gredients, including toma- toes,
blue cheese and fi-esh basil, the following recipe is both easy and
inexpensive to prepare.  :          Labor Day Pasta Salad 12 dpe plum
tomatoes (about 1 1/2  pounds), quartered, or 1 pint cherry tomatoes,
cut in halves 2 cups  (lighty packed) whole  fresh basil leaves 2
ounces finely crumbled  blue cheese 2 tablespoons olive or veg- etable
oil 2 tablespoons  white-wine vinegar Salt and pepper, to taste 1 pound
penne,  mostaccioli or   other medium-shaped pasta, uncooked Toss the
tomatoes in a bowl with the basil leaves, blue cheese, oil and
vinegar.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate and let
marinate for 45 minutes to 24 hours. Just before serving, cook the
pasta according to package di- rections; drain thoroughly. Transfer
the pasta to a mixing bowl while still warm. Add the to- mato mixture
and toss to mix. Let stand at room temperature about 15 minutes  before
serv- ing. Note: Use the smallest leaves of the basil for this  recipe.
If the leaves are longer than 1 inch, tear them in half  crosswse be-
fore adding to the tomato mix- ture.  Option: Grill 8 to 12 ounces
boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Cool  5 minutes after cooking, then
cut into thin strips. Toss chicken  while stil warm with the pasta
salad. Serve im- mediately.  From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster
collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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