Serves: 6

Cook Time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups prepared Italian salad dressing, divided
• 2 sweet red peppers, cored, seeded and cut in half
• 1 sweet green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut in half
• 1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed
• 1 large red onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 pound penne pasta, cooked until firm to the bite
• Salt and pepper
• 10 leaves of fresh basil, stacked, rolled and cut into very thin strips

Steps

In a square baking dish toss vegetables with 3/4 cup of salad dressing and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. While vegetables are marinating, cook pasta until firm to the bite and heat grill until it's medium hot. To keep pasta from sticking together, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Working in batches, grill the peppers, asparagus and onions about 3 minutes per side until grill marks appear but vegetables are still firm. Remove the vegetables from the grill and cool slightly. Cut the peppers and asparagus into large pieces. Toss together the cooked pasta, grilled vegetables, tomatoes and remaining 1/2 cup dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss in basil. Serve room temperature.

This recipe was specially prepared and created by Paula Deen for Smithfield. Recipe and photo courtesy of Smithfield.