There’s no fare better than Pasta Salad to represent everyday, warm-weather cooking. This recipe, though, is hardly pedestrian: it’s guest-worthy! You’ll be very proud to serve this salad at a picnic, barbecue, or for a casual dinner at home on a leisurely summer evening.
Pasta Salad
9
large servings25
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1 lb ruffles pasta
Coarse salt and coarsely ground black pepper
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs white wine vinegar
2 Tbs chicken stock
4 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried mint
1 tsp finely grated lemon peel
Pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
24 oz red, yellow, and orange cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
½ cup finely diced red onion
½ cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
¼ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
12 oz sharp cheddar, diced
Directions
- Cook the pasta in salted water, according to package directions for al dente. Strain it, return the pasta to the empty pot, and cover the pasta with cold water. Strain again.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing: add the oil, vinegar, stock, basil, mint, lemon peel, (and red pepper flakes) to a tightly sealable, 1-cup container. Add coarse salt (perhaps 1½ tsp) and pepper to taste. Cover tightly and shake like mad. Once the pasta has been cold-water strained but is still warm, add the dressing and toss thoroughly.
- Into the pasta, toss the tomatoes, onions, olives, parsley, and cheddar. Serve at room temperature.
Notes
- Substitutions: wagon wheel or some other fun pasta shape – or a more ordinary shape, like macaroni or penne – for the ruffles, ¼-tsp chicken stock reduction + 2 Tbs water for the stock, ¼-cup fresh basil for the dried (added to the salad rather than the dressing), 2 Tbs fresh mint for the dried (added to the salad rather than the dressing), fontina for the cheddar
This salad is delightful. I suppose I’ve had pasta salads like this before, but never this good. I’m not kidding. The ingredient list may not seem like a revelation, but it’s just a really great mix of flavors and textures. It’s tasty and filling. The tomatoes work perfectly in it.
Guest-Worthy
I would totally serve this to guests, and in fact am planning to at this year’s annual 4th of July barbecue. It goes great with burgers. Plus, because it’s served at room temperature, it’s perfect for a buffet. You could make it morning of or the night before, keep it in the fridge, and then take it out a short time before serving. Not only will you not worry about keeping it cold, but it’s better the more toward room temperature it gets. Remember, though, that the general rule is not to leave perishable food out for more than two hours. But please, remember even more to never take food safety advice from me.
Ingredient Notes
- I don’t normally add the red pepper flakes unless I’m really in the mood for them.
- This salad is perfect as-is, but it could take on cooked ham, chicken, bacon, or lamb. Maybe even diced pepperoni. If you want to make it creamy, substitute ½-cup (or more, to taste) mayo for the oil and vinegar – stirring all the other dressing ingredients into it.
- It could probably also take on whatever you have on-hand, such as celery, bell pepper, or even raisins. However, it doesn’t need any of these things.
- Don’t worry about the onions. They’re not overpowering, but instead add a nice flavor – and I say that as someone who’s not a big fan of raw onion. Of course, if you just can’t stand onion, then do what you will … but you might need to find something zesty to take their place.
- A lot of time, salads like this – if you get them pre-made from the grocery store – are dripping in dressing in an overpowering way. This one isn’t like that at all. And yet it has all the flavor you could want. On the other hand, if you do want a saucier salad, it’d be easy to increase the yield of the dressing by increasing its liquid ingredients without bothering to adjust any of its other ingredients.
Cooking Notes
So, how do you eat this salad? With a fork, of course, but do you stab it with the tines? Or scoop it up by the forkful? Maybe a bit of both? The answer to this question will tell you how large or small the pieces of cheese should be.
Leftovers
Refrigerated leftovers, cold and straight from the fridge, are just about as good as the freshy-made salad. I would suggest a cautiously generous sprinkling of coarse salt to freshen up cold flavors, and a very light drizzle of oil. If that oil is lemon-infused, that’s a pro move!
Serving Sizes:
If you divide this into nine servings, you’ll have generous, meal-sized servings – but don’t be surprised if everyone wants seconds. That’d mean that this batch could serve as few as four, but I’d say more realistically, six. As a side, you could easily get 18 servings. Cut it back to 15 if you worry that some of your eaters will want larger portions or need the buffet to look generous.
Pasta Salad
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. References: Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker, “Pasta Salad (Basic Recipe),” in The Joy of Cooking (New York: Scribner, 1997), 225–26. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #2 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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