Inspired by Mediterranean pasta salads
Pasta salad has become as Americanized as pizza, with everything from canned tuna to salami and sliced hot dogs tossed in, accompanied by a hefty dose of mayonnaise or, worse yet, salad dressing.
Pasta salad doesn’t have to loaded with artificial flavours, nor does it have to be hefty. In my opinion, a good pasta salad should taste natural, fresh and light.
I have outlined below three pasta salad styles including oil-based, tomato-based and pesto-based. Get inspired by the flavours of the Mediterranean and leave the salad dressing for the lettuce.
SICILIAN-STYLE CAPONATA PASTA SALAD
Serves 6 to 8
4 cups rotini
2 lb eggplant, chopped
Salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 large onion, peeled, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 4 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, diced
3/4 cup green olives, pitted, sliced
4 tbsp capers
2 tbsp red wine vinegar Parsley for garnish
Directions:
Liberally salt the eggplant and place in a colander. Set aside for an hour. Rinse the eggplant with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place a sauté pan over medium heat and add half of the olive oil. Sauté the eggplant until soft; reserve. Place a large sauté pan over mediumlow heat; add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the onion and celery. Sauté until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until the garlic is fragrant; approximately 30 seconds. Add the eggplant and tomatoes and sauté for another 4-5 minutes. Add the green olives, capers (including a tablespoon of the caper juice) and red wine vinegar; stir. Remove from pan and place in a bowl.
Let stand for an hour before serving to let the flavours incorporate. Cook 4 cups of rotini in heavily salted water according to package instructions. Drain and drizzle with remaining olive oil. Let cool and then combine caponata with rotini. Serve at room temperature.
ORZO AND ROASTED PEPPER PASTA SALAD
Serves 4 to 6
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta 2 tbsp olive oil
1 red pepper, cored, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced 1 1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 bunch mint, roughly chopped (about ½ cup) 1 cup lemon vinaigrette* Pinch salt
Fresh cheese, crumbled, optional
Cook pasta according to package instructions in heavily salted water. Drain and toss immediately with olive oil. Allow to cool, then add the red pepper, red onion, chili flakes and fresh mint. Add lemon vinaigrette* and salt. Toss to combine. Taste and add more vinaigrette
Directions:
or salt, if needed. Add crumbled fresh cheese, such as feta, if you like.
*Make lemon vinaigrette by placing 1/4 tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 diced shallot, 2 cloves minced garlic and 1/3 cup lemon juice in a bowl. Slowly add 1 cup olive oil, whisking the entire time. Transfer to a large mason jar and fasten lid tightly.
FARFALLE WITH PESTO
Serves 6 to 8
5 cups farfalle
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup fresh basil
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted 2 lemons juice, zest
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil Pinch salt
1/4 Parmesan, finely grated 3 cups arugula
1 pint cherry tomato, halved, salted
Directions:
Cook farfalle in heavily salted water according to package instructions. Drain and toss with olive oil. Make the pesto by combining basil leaves, pine nuts, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and salt in a blender. Puree until smooth. Toss with pesto and Parmesan. Place arugula on a platter and top with farfalle. Top with tomatoes.
Mark DeWolf is currently the creative director of food and drink at the SaltWire Network, director of marketing and communications of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) and pastpresident of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS). He enjoys drinking, eating, writing and talking about wine, beer and food.