This invigorating pasta salad is here to exile the memory of that overcooked, claggy, mayonnaise drenched dish from your mind and your recipe repertoire forever. Taking a page from the infinite wisdom of the Italians, this pasta salad is fresh, simple and actually has vegetables in it!
Bursting with classic Italian flavours like summery sweet basil, the creamy complements of feta cheese, the acrid punch of garlic and the sweetness of roast peppers this dish is so good it will have you doing your best impersonation of Gennaro Contaldo’s “Why i’m cooking so good!!!”. And just when you think you have hit perfection – an exotic dusting of cumin lifts the dish to new heights!
Chefs Tips for this Italian Pasta Salad:
- DO NOT…I repeat…DO NOT overcook your pasta! Your pasta should be Al dente – which means firm but cooked. And while there are many extravagant ways to test this (like throwing pasta at your walls) it’s easier to taste it. Take a piece and if you can break it on the roof of your mouth with your tongue it’s done.
Looking for a sweeter kind of pasta salad? Try this alternate option that we have for you, our Sweet and Tangy Tropical Pasta Salad.
Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 sachet Calamata Black Olives pitted and halved
- 2 wheels Feta cheese of choice crumbled
- 125 gram Basil Pesto Sauce
- 1 Green Pepper deseeded and sliced in strips
- 2 Red Sweet Peppers deseeded and sliced in strips. If they are long, halve them
- A bunch of spring onions sliced
- 1 Onion sliced in thinly
- 4 cloves Garlic chopped
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil extra virgin
- Pasta of your choice
- 1 tsp Cumin grounded (if it is whole cumin, grind it until fine with a pestle. Just to get the flavor going)
Instructions
- Cook your pasta as per instructions on the packet
- Rince and mix through the Cumin
- Set aside
- Place all the sliced and chopped vegetables in an oven-proof tray.
- Cover with 4 tablespoons of olive oil and make sure all is covered well
- Place under the grill for 6 to 7 min
- Keep on watching it to ensure it is not burning
- After 6 minutes, take out, add 2 tablespoons of pesto and mix through
- Place back in the oven and grill for another 10 min, keep mixing this while under the grill
- When peppers are roasted, take out and mix through the pasta and the rest of the pesto
- Crumb the feta cheese into the pasta and mix well
Notes
- DO NOT…I repeat…DO NOT overcook your pasta! Your pasta should be Al dente – which means firm but cooked. And while there are many extravagant ways to test this (like throwing pasta at your walls) it’s easier to taste it. Take a piece and if you can break it on the roof of your mouth with your tongue it’s done.