When I was a kid I used to eat pasta salads all the time, like all the time. I’m not a huge fan of salad as I have said at least 54 times but I am a huuuge fan of pasta salads. And I guess they do count as salads. Right? (Say yes) Either way, now that it is the summer salad season, well, I can’t wait to make more and more pasta salads. But today’s summer pasta salad is a pesto, mozzarella heaven. So good, really good.
N’oubliez pas la recette est en français tout en bas du post !
Ingredients
- Pasta of your choice. Choose something like fusilli, penne rigatte or farfalle. They work the best with salads like this.
- Cherry tomatoes
- Olives
- Corn
- Eggs & Mozzarella (Optional if you are vegan!)
- Pesto sauce (not in the picture)
- Spices: Basil, thym and origan.
- Some olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste
How to prepare this summer pasta salad ?
The salad has two steps: Cooling down the ingredients and assembling the salad. First, we cook the pasta following package instructions, so mine was 10 minutes boiling water. Then cook the eggs 6-7 minutes and put them in an ice bath. Once these two items are less hot, we can start assembling the salad.
While these two items cool, let’s chop all the choppable ingredients: tomatoes, olives and eggs.
And we assemble the pasta salad. We put the pasta in a large bowl (I don’t have one so I used the Instant Pot bowl to mix everything), add the pesto sauce and mix well. Add in the spices. Then we can add everything else: tomatoes, eggs, corn and olives. Serve in a bowl and cover with mozzarella cheese !
This is my first salad recipe on tofucado, but if you want to see more simple, quick recipes like this one, tell me in the comments! If you want similar (even though they won’t be salads) recipes, check out my healthy asparagus skillet, or my pan-roasted potatoes meal.
Summer Pesto Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 10.6 oz pasta of your choice. I used fusilli, works great with salads like this or basically 4 servings of pasta. Around 300-400 grams for 4 people.
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup olives and some extra more to snack while you prepare the salad
- 4 eggs
- 4 tbsp pesto sauce Vegetarian friendly !
- 1 cup corn
- 1 package mozzarella
- 1 tbsp basil
- 1 tbsp origan
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Mine was 10 minutes. Once it is cooked, drain the water and let it rest until it's colder. Tip: To avoid the pasta from sticking, add a bit of olive oil.
- While the pasta cools down, you can prepare the eggs. Boil the eggs for 6-7 minutes to achieve a harder yolk, instead of runnier. Once they are cooked, place them in an ice bath and peel them.
- When the pasta has properly cooled down, we can start chopping our three ingredients: cherry tomatoes, olives and eggs. Cut them in halves/four pieces, as you want. I cut the olives in halves, the tomatoes and eggs in four pieces.
- Now we can mix it all together. Add the 4 tbsp of pesto (A bit more if you want more flavor!) and the spices, mix well. Then we will add all the ingredients: corn, eggs, tomatoes and olives. Mix well.
- Serve in a bowl and top with the mozzarella pieces and voilà! A great, fresh, summer pesto pasta salad. We had leftovers and we ate the remaining pasta salad in the following days. Such a nice meal.
Recette en français – Salade d’été de pâtes au pesto
Ingrédients
- 300-400 g de pâtes (J’ai utilisé de fusilli)
- 300 g tomates ceries
- 60 g olives et un peu plus pour snacker pendant qu’on prépare la salad (il n’y a jamais assez d’olives)
- 4 oeufs
- 4 cuillères à soupe de sauce pesto
- 175 g maïs
- 1 paquet de mozzarella
- 1 cuillère à soupe de basilic et une autre d’oregano
- 1 tbsp basil
- 1 tbsp origan
- Sel et poivre au goût
Étapes
- Cuire les pâtes selon les instructions de la boîte. J’ai fait bouillir les miennes pendant 10 minutes. Une fois elles sont prêtes, égouter et laisser reposer. Ajouter un peu d’huile d’olive pour éviter qu’elles s’attachent.
- Pendant que les pâtes se refroidissent, nous allons préparer les oeufs. Faire bouillir de l’eau dans une casserole et plonger les oeufs. Cuire pendant 6-7 minutes. Puis mettre les 4 oeufs dans un bain d’eau glacée.
- Quand les pâtes sont bien froides, nous allons préparer le reste d’ingrédients : les tomates cerises, olives et oeufs. Nous allons les couper en moitiés, ou quarts. Votre choix.
- Maintenant, nous pouvons tout assembler. Nous ajoutons le pesto et les épices aux pâtes et nous mélangeons bien. Puis on rajoute tous les autres ingrédients : maïs, oeufs, tomates, et olives. Bien mélanger.
- Servir dans un bol avec un peu de la mozzarella et voilà! Une salade de pâtes très fraîche, et facile à faire. Bon appétit !
Liked this recipe ? Pin it !
Leave a Reply