Pasta salads are a summer staple for us and this recipe from Chatelaine introduced me to a great tip: if you can, cook the pasta the night before and refrigerate it until you are ready to assemble and dress the salad. Cooling pasta in the fridge overnight allows it to firm up, so it will have a firmer texture and won’t absorb all the dressing and dry out.
Avoiding Additives and Preservatives
I use Eden Organic red wine vinegar, which contains only naturally occurring sulphites.
Classic pasta salad
Ingredients:
Salad
8 oz (227 g) rotini, fusilli or gamelli pasta
1 cup (250 ml) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup (250 ml) diced cucumber
2 tbsp (30 ml) minced parsley
Vinaigrette
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
2 tbsp (30 ml) red or white wine vinegar
1 tsp (5 ml) minced garlic
1 tsp (5 ml) kosher salt
¼ tsp (1.25 ml) pepper
1 shallot, finely chopped
Preparation:
Cook pasta in salted water, following package directions, until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water. Refrigerate overnight if possible.
Vinaigrette: Whisk oil with vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and shallot in a large bowl.
Add pasta, tomatoes, cucumber and parsley to bowl. Toss to combine. Serves 6.
From Chatelaine
