Pasta is the basis for fantastic dinners of stature. Big pans of rich sauce, long set tables and enjoying an honest and delicious dish with family and friends, finished off with a good real Italian cheese.
But pasta is more! Pasta is also a perfect basis for a healthy salad. Pure indulgence, especially when the sun is shining outside again and the whole world seems a bit more ‘Italian’.
Not so sure where to start in preparing a pasta salad? We will help you on your way!
How to make a delicious pasta salad
What’s so great about pasta in general is that you can do anything with it. Tomato sauces, cream sauces or oil, meat, fish or vegetarian; the possibilities are literally endless.
A healthy pasta salad is just as versatile. You can keep your pasta salad vegetarian, make a cold pasta salad chicken or prepare a cold pasta salad with tuna.
These are all classics from the great ‘Italian pasta salad encyclopedia’, but of course you can combine ingredients to suit your own taste. Would you like to add a different cheese, a dried tomato or an olive or a spicy salami?
There is only one rule: if you like it, then do it!
Step by step how to make a delicious pasta salad
A pasta salad is made in a few simple steps. It’s a dish that’s quick to prepare, healthy, and quick to make as well. Sounds like the ideal pasta dish!
To give you a clear picture of how we make our pasta salad, we have written out the process of making a pasta salad in 6 steps. If you follow these 6 steps, you can be sure that you will prepare a delicious pasta salad.
Making pasta salad in 6 steps:
Step #1: Choose the right pasta
Pick out a short pasta shape. As mentioned above, it is the best option for a pasta salad. For example, choose a mezze penne or a casarecce. Two of our favorite types of pasta for a pasta salad.
Step #2: Cook the pasta al dente.
Cook the pasta until tender. Preferably “al dente” as they do in Italy. For a pasta salad, pasta is best when it still has a little bite in it. You can read all about cooking pasta al dente on our blog: ‘How to cook pasta al dente!
Step #3: Choose the ingredients
A pasta salad is an incredibly versatile dish. It is a typical dish with which you can experiment endlessly. Especially add many ingredients that you like yourself.
It is not that a pasta salad has to be made in a certain way. It mainly comes down to what you like!
Step #4: Add everything together
At this step, it’s time to add all the ingredients and pasta together. Do this in a nice big bowl or a deep plate. The eye wants something too after all!
Step #5: Serve your pasta salad
Serve the pasta salad and surprise your friends and family with a healthy but delicious meal.
Step #6: enjoy it the Italian way.
Don’t forget to enjoy. Just a healthy moment of enjoyment that feels so Italian!
To help you on your way we have created a beautiful infographic for you. The infographic shows every step in the making of a pasta salad.
Pasta in an Italian pasta salad
Choosing a pasta for a salad is not that difficult. There are plenty of choices out there. The only type of pasta that is actually never used for a salad is the long thin form: so for pasta we leave the spaghetti, tagliatelle or fettuccine in the pantry.
First, because they are not so handy in the salad. When you twist these conveniently around your fork from your plate, all the other pasta salad ingredients are left behind….
Shorter types of pasta like penne, macaroni, fusilli or lumache can actually allow those ingredients to stick to them and you prick them on your fork a lot easier. So rather grab one of those.
Cooking pasta for a salad
Al dente is an Italian expression, but people on all continents know what it means. Overdone, we say. Ideally, this is how you cook pasta: not cooked too weakly, but with a little bite. How al dente you prefer your pasta to be is personal.
For a pasta salad it is extra nice to keep the pasta al dente. A salad needs structure, not pasta that falls apart when you hold your fork or spoon above it.
Making pasta salad
You have the pasta, now you need the rest. You can make an easy but delicious pasta salad of peppers and rocket, invent a carpaccio variant, add tuna, chicken, pesto, tomatoes and other well-known ingredients from Italian cuisine. But you can also incorporate pasta into the famous salad niçoise or a summer pasta salad with fruit.
The Internet offers you literally thousands and thousands of possibilities. Follow them or vary them. And do not start too difficult. Start with a simple salad and go from there when you’ve mastered it. Buon appetito!