One of my all time favorites is pasta salad. If made well and with interesting and complementary quality ingredients, it can be enjoyed as a tasty side or main dish.
This particular recipe I created for the menu of my first restaurant Al Dente in Jerusalem, Israel, back in the late 1990s.
While I used to make it in the restaurant with super-thin, fresh, angel-hair spaghetti, at home it is easier to use bought, dry, short pasta, such as penne or fusilli.
It’s easy to make and interesting and colourful.
Ingredients: (feeds 6 as a main course)
- 500 g of short pasta
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- 50 g grated Parmesan
- 200 g high-fat feta, cubed
- 50 g pan-toasted pine nuts
- 15 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 6-7 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, sliced thin
- 15 Kalamata olives, halved, stones removed
- 2-3 cloves crushed garlic (to taste)
- Good bunch of arugula (rocket) leaves, washed, dried, stems removed
- Ice for chilling the pasta quickly
- Salt and pepper
Method:
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, then add a large pinch of salt. Add the pasta and stir to prevent it sticking together. Take the cooking time as per the packaging from when the water in the pot starts boiling again. Stir from time to time. While the pasta cooks, fill a large bowl with water. Add ice and a good dash of olive oil.
Once cooked to your desired tenderness, tip the pasta into a colander to drain and then straight into the ice water with the olive oil. When cooled, tip back into the colander to remove all water. Pick out any bits of ice and, when well drained, tip into a large bowl to build tastes and mix.
First add a small dash of balsamic vinegar: it’s strong so don’t overdo it. Add two cloves of crushed garlic (hold the third clove back until you have finished – again, do not overdo it). Add a small dash of olive oil if needed. Then add the grated Parmesan, toasted pine nuts, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Mix well, add a pinch of salt and pepper, and taste at this point to see if you need to add another crushed garlic clove or more balsamic or salt. Add cherry tomatoes, feta and arugula leaves just before serving, mix well and buon appetito.
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