Pasta salad: cooking recipes with photos, ingredients, seasonings, calories, tips and tricks

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In Russia, pasta is usually used as a side dish for main (meat, fish) dishes. Meanwhile, in other countries they are often one of the components of salads and snacks. Salads with pasta are very tasty and satisfying, they can be served as an independent dish. You can take this snack to work as a snack or for a picnic. In addition, salads are convenient because, unlike other identical dishes, they can be seasoned in advance, which will not spoil their taste. From the material presented, you will learn several interesting recipes for pasta salads, their ingredients, and the calorie content of dishes.

Some recommendations

For cooking, it is better to use not too long pasta: fusilli, shells, bows (farfalle), short pasta, penne. In this case they will be the same size as the other componentssalad, which means that the finished dish will have a more beautiful appearance, it will be more convenient to eat.

Please note: boiled pasta should be seasoned immediately, preferably with olive oil, it will quickly be absorbed into hot pasta, which will prevent further sticking of the cooled pasta and give it a very appetizing look.

Neutral-flavoured pasta is a hearty salad base, and the rest of the products can be chosen for every taste. Meat delicacies, smoked and s alted fish, various seafood and, of course, fresh vegetables are perfect for it.

We recommend adding hot-pepper, spicy fresh notes to the salad with pasta, otherwise it may turn out to be boring and insipid. We advise you to use the following range of products: olives, capers, spicy fresh herbs, including thyme, basil, marjoram. A completely different taste will give a salad with pasta and a properly selected dressing with a pronounced taste. We should not forget about the cheese, which can also add zest.

Italian salads

Such salads are especially popular in Italy. They are tasty, filling and quite easy to prepare. The combination of ingredients in Italian pasta salads creates an unbeatable taste. We have prepared for you a selection of some rather interesting recipes.

Minestrone Salad

We advise you to prepare a salad, which includes a large number of fresh vegetables. For work we need:

• 4 tbsp olive oil;
• 250g penne;
• freshly ground pepper (black);
• 1, 25 st. fresh corn kernels;
• 1 pc. zucchini (young), carrots, onions;
• 2 garlic cloves;
• coarse s alt;
• 20g green beans;
• 420g cannellini beans;
• 500 g colorful tomatoes;
• 2 tbsp. l. balsamic vinegar.

Cooking technology

1. For salad, boil the pasta in the traditional way until al dente, drain the water and cool.
2. Heat two large tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan, fry chopped garlic over low heat for 2 minutes, add carrots cut into small cubes and fry for another 4 minutes, until soft.
3. Add chopped beans and small cubes of zucchini, corn. Fry, stir constantly for about 10-15 minutes, s alt, pepper, transfer to a bowl and let cool.
4. To the vegetables, add the rest of the olive oil, canned beans, vinegar, pasta, chopped tomatoes.
5. Spice, stir and serve.

The recipe is for 4 servings, the calorie content of one is 613 kcal.

Salad with pasta and tuna

We offer to prepare a salad of Italian cuisine. In order to do this, you should prepare the following components:

• 200g butterfly pasta (farfalle);
• 1 sweet red pepper;
• 100g oil-dried tomatoes;
• 1 can of tuna (canned) in own juice;
• 10 basil leaves;
• 50g arugula;
• 4 tbsp olive oil;
• 200g mozzarella;
• s alt, black pepper to taste.

How to cook

1. Cut the pepper in half, remove the seeds, wrap in foil greased with olive oil, bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 220 degrees.
2. Boil the pasta in s alted water until tender (preferably al dente), cool by rinsing under cold water.
3. Preparing dressing with olive oil, basil and s alt, blend with a blender for about 20 seconds.
4. Baked peppers, sun-dried tomatoes cut into strips, and mozzarella into cubes.
5. Combine the above ingredients with tuna and pasta, season, mix well.
6. Add arugula just before serving to keep it crispy.

The calorie content of this salad is 591 kcal per serving, from the resulting ingredients comes out 4.

Recipe tip

Al dente in Italian means "on the tooth" and indicates the state of the pasta when it is ready, but at the same time hard enough and not boiled. When cooking, for example, farfal, when cracking a properly cooked paste, the tooth should feel resistance. In order to achieve such a result, it is necessary to strictly observe the cooking time indicated on the package, and, in addition, constantly taste the pasta, seconds count in this matter.

Salad with ham, vegetables and cheese

Very tasty and simple salad withavailable ingredients. Let's say right away that its calorie content is quite high - 841 kcal. Components:

• 300g ham;
• 2 pcs. sweet peppers and tomatoes;
• 400g pasta;
• 300 grams of canned corn;
• 200g cheese;
• mayonnaise to taste.

For this salad with pasta (it is clearly visible in the photo), spiral pasta or horns are most suitable. Boil them and let them cool down. Cut the tomatoes and pepper into cubes, ham into thin slices, rub the cheese on a coarse grater. We combine all the components together and season with mayonnaise.

Warm pasta salad

Such dishes are served not only cold, but also warm. To prepare a salad, you should take the following ingredients:

• 250g cherry tomatoes;
• 400 g orekiete or fusilli;
• basil bunch;
• 4 garlic cloves;
• 150 ml olive oil;
• 30ml white vinegar wine.

Pasta should be chosen according to the criterion that it is easily soaked with garlic and vinegar. For this pasta salad recipe (you can see the dish in the photo), it is better to take fusilli or orecchiete.

First, you should prepare the filling: coarsely chop the basil, chop the garlic, cut the tomatoes into halves. Put the tomatoes in a bowl, add garlic, olive oil and wine vinegar to them, leave to marinate. Boil water in a large saucepan and cook the orecchiette for 8-10 minutes. Pasta followsdry well and immediately mix with tomatoes, at the last moment add basil and immediately serve the dish. The secret of this salad is that it is mixed with the filling before the pasta has cooled. It is in this case that it will absorb all the flavors and juices of the fresh marinade.

Eggplant salad with pasta

This salad has a bright taste, contains many vitamins and is full of flavors. Take the following ingredients:

• 1 eggplant;
• 6 ripe tomatoes;
• 200g pasta (preferably whole wheat flour);
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard;
• 450g canned red peppers (not hot);
• 1 tbsp capers;
• bunch of leaf parsley (fresh);
• 50g arugula leaves;
• 1 tbsp pine nuts;
• a small pod of celery;
• pecorino cheese (can be different to taste);
• sea s alt;
• pepper;
• lemon;
• olive oil;
• red wine sauce.

Cooking tips

Boil the pasta (pasta) according to the instructions on the package. Cut the eggplant in half and cut into medium pieces, about 2 cm. Put them in a colander, sprinkle with s alt, mix so that it is evenly distributed, let stand for a while. Control the amount of s alt, otherwise the salad will be too s alty.

After the pasta is cooked, drain the water through a colander, rinse a little with water and combine with a little oil, then place in a deep bowl and givecool down.

Cut the tomatoes in half and remove all the seeds with a spoon. Place the skillet on the stove at high heat. Lay the tomatoes on top, center side down. Pour cold water to the middle of the tomatoes, season with s alt, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Using tongs, carefully remove the skin from the tomatoes, grind them into a paste and reduce the heat. Boil for 25-30 minutes until the mass thickens.

Wash eggplant in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place a large skillet on the stove at medium heat and pour in the olive oil. Fry eggplant for about 5-10 minutes.

In a deep bowl, pour a large spoonful of red wine vinegar and 3 tbsp. olive oil, add mustard, a little pepper and s alt. Remove the pits from the olives, chop coarsely and add to the bowl. We also send capers and fresh tomato sauce there, then add chilled pasta, mix well with dressing, put in a large dish or salad bowl. Coarsely cut the dried peppers into strips and sprinkle them over the salad, add the fried pieces of eggplant, put arugula leaves and finely chopped celery on top of the salad. We cut the parsley quite large and put it into the salad together with the pine nuts. Add lemon juice, drizzle with olive oil, and top with grated cheese. Salad with pasta and eggplant can be served.