Olive Oils, Summer Pasta Salad,

And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Sensitive Plant”

Now that Spring is well underway with Summer almost here ..the overabundance of fresh produce provides a fresh canvas of colorful fruits and vegetables for any kitchen. And what better way to pay homage to some of that fresh produce than to pair it in a recipe with extra virgin olive oil!

Olive Oil has now become an ingredient Americans are obsessed with.. and rightly so….the USA is now producing it’s own award winning Olive Oils in California..but we have to give credit to the olive trees and methods that were brought to the USA from Italy that got this all started..

Thanks to places like Secolari Olive Oil for bringing these olive oils to us and giving people the chance to experience and learn how to use and select their olive oils. Thanks to everyone that came to my book signing and cooking demo at Secolari olive oil in Columbia. Maryland this weekend.

When choosing olive oils look for olive oils that are : extra virgin and cold pressed, have an aromatic scent, are rich in color.. And store your olive oil in a dark glass bottle or container and be sure to look for an expiration date on the container. Olive oil should come with an expiration date.

And if you could not join us yesterday at Secolari Olive Oils in Columbia, Maryland, here is one of the recipes from the cooking demo, an easy, cold pasta salad:

Summer Pasta Salad

*1 lb of artisan pasta

*zest of 1 fresh (organic) lemon

*1 can of albacore tuna packed in water (flaked)

*1 handful of fresh parsley chopped

*3 scallions finely chopped

*3 tablespoons cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil

Cook pasta till al dente.. Place drained pasta in bowl, add in chopped scallions, flaked tuna. Drizzle with olive oil, stri to distribute ingredients evenly. Zest lemon on top of salad and top with chopped parsley. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil on top and parsley sprigs on the side.

For more great recipes, get your copy of these books from the award winning book series The Basic Art of Italian Cooking, winner of the Gourmand World Awards:
See you on June 11th at Stratford Public Library in Stratford, NJ for a cooking demo and book signing , free to the public, but registration is limited, so hurry and register Call the library at:

Location & Directions to the Library

303 Union Avenue (behind the Stratford Fire Company)
(856) 783 – 0602