Pasta salad
Pasta salad fails in two ways: the pasta is overcooked, or the salad is dry an hour later. The same rule fixes both — cook the pasta al dente and make more dressing than seems necessary. Cooled pasta keeps absorbing sauce for a long time.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Cooking the pasta 12 min
- Cooling 20 min
- Chopping vegetables 12 min
- Dressing 6 min
- Chilling 30 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCook the pasta al dente
Cook the pasta in heavily salted water a minute less than the packet says. For a cold salad the pasta must be firmer than usual — once cooled and soaked in dressing it softens anyway.
Ingredients: 400 g pasta · 1 tbsp salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
TipChoose shapes with grooves: fusilli, farfalle, shells. Smooth penne holds a creamy dressing less well.
A minute less than the packet — the rest happens in the bowl.Cool it, do not rinse it
Drain the pasta and toss it with the olive oil straight away, then spread it thin on a tray and cool for 20 minutes. Do not rinse in cold water — you would wash off the starch that makes the dressing cling.
Ingredients: 400 g pasta · 1 tbsp salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Cut the vegetables evenly
Dice the pepper and cucumber to the size of the pasta, halve the cherry tomatoes and slice the onion thinly. Even sizing means every spoonful gets a bit of everything.
Ingredients: 1 pcs red pepper · 1 pcs cucumber · 250 g cherry tomatoes · ½ pcs red onion · 100 g olives · 150 g feta · ½ bunch parsley
TipScoop out the watery core of the cucumber. It is what waters the whole salad down after a few hours.
Dice the size of the pasta — one spoonful, all the flavours.Make the creamy dressing
Mix the mayonnaise with yoghurt, mustard, lemon juice and zest, honey, oregano, salt and pepper. The dressing should be looser than feels right — the pasta absorbs a good part of it within an hour.
Ingredients: 100 g mayonnaise · 150 g Greek yoghurt · 2 tsp mustard · 1 pcs lemon · 1 tsp honey · 1 tsp oregano · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
Loose now, thick in an hour.Combine and chill
Toss the pasta with the vegetables, olives and dressing. Chill for 30 minutes. Fold in the feta and parsley just before serving — added earlier, the feta crumbles and melts into the dressing.
Ingredients: 100 g mayonnaise · 150 g Greek yoghurt · 2 tsp mustard · 1 pcs lemon · 1 tsp honey · 1 tsp oregano · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
Season before serving
Taste and season again. Cold food tastes less seasoned — add salt, lemon and pepper. If the salad looks dry, stir in a spoonful of yoghurt.
Ingredients: 100 g mayonnaise · 150 g Greek yoghurt · 2 tsp mustard · 1 pcs lemon · 1 tsp honey · 1 tsp oregano · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
Before you start
For a picnic
Mayonnaise dressing does not tolerate heat. Transport the salad in a cool box and eat within 2 hours of taking it out.
Mayonnaise-free version
Use a vinaigrette of olive oil, wine vinegar and mustard instead. It keeps longer and handles warmth far better.
With protein
Add 200 g of grilled chicken, canned tuna or chickpeas. The salad becomes a complete lunch.
