07 May 2009

Feta and Caramelized Onion Pasta Salad

En français ici.
As an actor, not only does one become familiar with jobs to make ends meet, but one also gets used to the idea of not having regular hours, weekends, lunch breaks or any of the other amenities the French 35 hour work week is supposed to give you. Or more often, you DO have regular work hours (or part time ones) to make money between projects and then you use your free time to read plays, go to auditions/rehearsals, make contacts, do publicity for your shows, go to workshops and everything else. One has to be extremely passionate about theater to be an actor -- or else totally crazy -- often both.

Currently in the beginning stages of a project, I've been meeting with the cast and director once a week in the evening, after the usual workday. Of course given the timing, you can only discuss copyrights, and budget and artistic vision for so long before yelling over the grumbling stomachs becomes difficult. In that case, it's much more effective to feed the troupe something fortifying and then they're all set -- at least until the métro stops running. Last week, I made this pasta salad, which was a big hit and proved very effective for decision-making :-)



400g pasta (or about 100g per person) -- I use weight here because depending on the kind of pasta you use, it will fit differently into a cup measure
3 medium-sized onions
2 Tbsp butter
1 container of lardons (or 4-5 slices of bacon)
3/4 cup feta, cut into cubes
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
your favorite vinaigrette to taste

Cook the pasta in boiling water to desired texture. Drain and let cool.

Peel and slice the onions; caramelize on medium-low heat in the butter for about 20 minutes. Then add the lardons (or bacon, cut into bits) and cook until they start to brown. Add to the pasta.

When all the ingredients are cool (because you don't want the cheese to melt), add the feta, walnuts and vinaigrette and toss until well-mixed.


I'm submitting this recipe to Presto Pasta Nights, being hosted this week by Tigerfish of Teczcape. You can check out the rules to participate.

13 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A delicious combo! I love caramelized onions.

Cheers,

Rosa

Ivy said...

What a combination of ingredients. It sounds delicious.

Maria said...

Great combination ... the flavors of your pasta salad sound delicious. Love the caramelized onions and the lardons.

Sam said...

Like everyone else has said that's a delicious sounding combination, I really love walnuts in pasta they just work so well together.

Anonymous said...

Tha sounds great! In case you didn't already guess, I'm a huge fan of pasta salad... and caramelized onions, now that I think about it.

tigerfish said...

Easy yummy dish :)

Joanne said...

I love this simple pasta dish, the flavors seem like they go really well together. I bet a good blue cheese or gorgonzola would also work in place of the feta. I also get very grumpy when I'm hungry, so I can see how a good dish like this could go a long way when sitting in a meeting for hours.

jokergirl@wererabbits said...

Sounds delicious! This is definitely one to try.

The Food Hunter said...

What a great combination of flavors. Looks yummy

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

That sounds lovely, although I would maybe add mushrooms instead of bacon.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

That sounds lovely, although I would maybe add mushrooms instead of bacon.

Hopie said...

Rosa - Me too! Thanks :-)

Ivy - Not to mention cheap and easy! What more can you want?

Maria - Thank you! I could eat caramelized onions in almost anything.

Sam - Me too. And I love the smoky flavor of toasted nuts.

Camille - hehe, I thought you'd be convinced by the caramelized onions :-)

Tigerfish - Indeed. Thanks for hosting!

Joanne - Oh I know, being hungry is not good for my mood either! I love the idea of using a blue cheese. I'll have to try that next time :-)

Jokergirl - Thanks! And thanks for stopping by!

The Food Hunter - Good to see you here. Thank you :-)

Holler - I have to say, I'm one of those freaks who doesn't much care for mushrooms (it's a texture thing), but your idea sounds like a good vegetarian version!

Ruth Daniels said...

What an interesting combo of ingredients.

Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Night and any time you plan on cooking for the cast...make it pasta and send it along.