Pasta salad: the kind that doesn't turn into glue
A salad for parties, picnics and lunchboxes, in a version that keeps up to three days in the fridge. Two rules save it from the fate of most pasta salads: cook the pasta a minute short of al dente, because it will soften further in the dressing anyway, and make the dressing half yogurt, so it isn't as heavy as straight mayonnaise. Season it while still warm, when the pasta still takes flavour in.
Your own work in that: 1 h.
- Pasta and chicken 40 min
- Chopping and dressing 20 min
- Chilling 60 min
Step by step
0 / 6 donePoach the chicken
Cover the breast with water so it is only just submerged, add the bay leaf, allspice and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, drop the heat to the lowest setting and cook 15 minutes covered. Cut into the thickest part: the meat should be white with no pink juices. Then leave the breast to cool in the liquid. Cooking at a bare tremble rather than a boil keeps the meat juicy; cooling it in its own broth does the rest.
Ingredients: 400 g fusilli pasta · 500 g chicken breast · 1 pcs bay leaf · 3 pcs allspice berries · 2 tsp salt
TipYou can roast the breast instead, 25 minutes at 180 °C, until no pink remains inside. It will taste stronger and be drier, so add one extra spoon of yogurt to the dressing.
Barely trembling water, fifteen minutesCook the pasta short
Cook the pasta in salted water one minute less than the packet says. Drain and rinse under cold water, stirring, until it is lukewarm. The pasta stops cooking, and the rinsed-off starch is no longer there to weld the salad into a single block.
TipFusilli, farfalle or penne hold dressing in their grooves. Long pasta is no good in a salad: it just sticks to itself.
A minute short, then cold waterChop the add-ins
Dice the pepper and the pickles to the size of a corn kernel, chop the onion finely and the chives into small rings. Drain the sweetcorn in a sieve. Even dice is not about looks: it is what makes every spoonful the same, instead of one of pure pasta and the next of pure pickle.
Ingredients: 400 g tinned sweetcorn · 1 pcs red bell pepper · 5 pcs pickled cucumbers · ½ pcs red onion · 1 bunch chives
TipPour boiling water over the red onion for 5 minutes and drain it if you dislike the sharp edge it keeps after a day in the fridge.
Diced to the size of a corn kernelMix the dressing
Stir the mayonnaise with the yogurt, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. It should be looser than seems necessary — the pasta will drink a good deal of it within the hour. If it is too thick, loosen it with a spoonful or two of cold chicken broth.
Ingredients: 150 g mayonnaise · 150 g thick natural yogurt · 1 tbsp mustard · ½ pcs lemon, juice · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
TipMayonnaise alone gives a heavy, greasy salad. The yogurt brings a tang that makes the whole thing taste fresh instead of dull.
Looser than seems necessaryFold and season
Dice the chicken. In a large bowl combine the pasta, meat, vegetables and dressing, folding from the bottom upwards with a wide spoon. Taste and season now, while the pasta is still lukewarm and takes seasoning best.
From the bottom up, so the pasta stays wholeChill for an hour
Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. Before serving, fold it through once more, season again with salt and pepper (cold mutes flavour) and scatter with chives.
After an hour, seasoned a second time
Before you start
Without meat
Swap the chicken for cubes of hard cheese and a handful of toasted sunflower seeds. Just as filling; add the seeds just before serving so they stay crisp.
Packed to go
For work, layer it in a jar: dressing at the bottom, then pasta, vegetables and chives on top. Shake it together on the spot and nothing goes soggy.
How long it keeps
Up to three days in a sealed container in the fridge. Over time the pepper weeps and the dressing splits — a spoon of yogurt stirred through puts it back together.
Tuna version
Two tins of tuna in brine instead of the chicken, plus a spoon of capers. Skip the mustard then and add more lemon.
