Pasta salad with ring-shaped ingredients

Insalata di pasta calamarata

Pasta salad with ring-shaped ingredients Our original home cooking

This is an extraordinary pasta salad (insalata di pasta), new and tasty! All the ingredients are cut into rings.
Here's the recipe, one of our best pasta recipe!

Pasta salad with ring-shaped ingredients, the photo shows calamarata pasta combined with bell pepper rings, black olive slices, courgette (zucchini) slices — Pasta salad (insalata di pasta) with ring-shaped ingredients

yeld for 4

300 g (10 1/2oz) calamarata pasta
300 g (10 1/2oz) pointed red sweet peppers
300 g (10 1/2oz) trumpet courgettes (zucchini)
100 g (3 1/2oz) fresh young onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon capers in vinegar
100 g (3 1/2oz) dried cherry tomatoes in olive oil
85 g (3oz) stoned black olives
2 tablespoons dried chives
2 tablespoons dried parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Time:
preparation: 30 minutes
cooking: 50 minutes
total: 80 minutes
Difficulty:
easy recipe
Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: 441 (kCal) 23 % GDA (*) - 1843 (kJ)
Protein: 10.7 (g) 22 % GDA
Total fat: 16.4 (g) 24 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 66.7 (g) 25 % GDA
Sugars: 10.3 (g) 12 % GDA

The recipe of the pasta salad with ring-shaped ingredients

Prepare the sweet peppers. Cut off their ends and halve crossways to remove their seeds better. Run under cold water and pat dry with absorbent kitchen paper. Then cut crossways into slices not too thin.
Put half the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and add half the onion and sweet pepper rings. Sauté on low heat stirring frequently for a few minutes. Then add boiling stock or simple hot water (about 200 ml - 7 1/4fl oz) and half the aromatic herbs. Season to taste with salt and keep on cooking on medium heat until all the cooking juice is well reduced. You will need about 15 minutes. Don't cook too much the sweet peppers to avoid they become squashy.

Prepare the courgettes (zucchini). Cut off the courgette ends and wash accurately. Cut them crossways into slices not too thin and put these slices in a non-stick frying pan together with the remaining olive oil and onions. Sauté on low heat for a few minutes stirring frequently and then cover with boiling vegetable stock or simple hot water. Add the capers and the remaining aromatic herbs. Season to taste with salt and keep on cooking on medium heat until the cooking juice is well reduced, stirring now and then. You will need about 15 minutes. Don't cook too much if you like crisp courgettes.

Cook the pasta. Meanwhile cook the pasta in abundant salt water until al dente stage following the instructions on the package or our directions about the art of cooking Italian pasta.
Slice the olives crossways.

The last step. Drain the pasta and run under cold water in order to stop cooking, drain again.
Transfer the pasta into a large bowl.
Add the cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, black olives and courgettes. Stir and taste to determine if the dish needs added salt.
Your pasta is ready.

Note

- Let the pasta rest for at least an hour before serving.
- More details on the ingredients to have the best result.
The pasta we used is called calamarata in Italy for its shape that remembers the squid rings (in Italian squids are called calamari).
The sweet peppers are pointed peppers to cut them into rings easily.
Besides we chose trumpet courgettes (zucchini). Don't worry if you don't find them, you can substitute trumpet courgettes with young, little courgettes.
You will also need black olives, dried cherry tomatoes preserved in oil, young fresh onions, aromatic herbs (chives, parsley) and good-quality olive oil.
- You can add seasoned ricotta cheese cut into flakes just before serving. Even in this case it is a typical vegetarian pasta dish but we are sure everyone will like it!
- It is tasty even the day after.
- Serve it at Sunday lunch or as a course in a complete menu for a celebration party if you want to astonish your guests. In the last case it serves more people (6 - 8 servings).

Healthy eating

- Generally pasta salad is a dish rich in ingredients and so it is necessary to calculate the right amount of everything we use not to exceed calories, fat and sugars. But this pasta salad is an healthy, low fat recipe. It's a vegetarian pasta dish.
- Daily menu. Serve this pasta salad at lunch and complete your meal with fresh seasonal vegetable if you are still hungry and fruit.
We remember pasta should be eaten preferably at lunch and the calories eaten at lunch should be 500 - 700 (30 - 35% of energy needs for an adult if his daily needs are about 2000 calories and he correctly divides his calories into 5 micro-meals).
Here are the doses per head: 70 g (2 1/2oz) pasta, a pointed sweet pepper, 70 g (2 1/2oz) courgettes (zucchini), a little onion, 1 teaspoon capers, 25 (1 oz) cherry tomatoes in oil, 20 g (3/4oz) black olives, aromatic herbs and less than one tablespoon olive oil.
- Special occasion menu. It's a perfect choice for a complete menu rich of courses. Besides assume some of your guests will be vegetarians.
- If you want to drink a glass of wine remember you have to add 80-85 kCal per 100 ml.
- If you want to know more about Italian pasta and its nutrition value read this page.
- We remember you our original home recipes can be made without salt; there is a combination of flavours that substitutes salt. Other salt-free recipes ...

What's the right wine ?

Our suggestion is Corvo Bianco, a white Sicilian wine. It's fresh and fruity. If you prefer red wines you can choose Bardolino (red wine of Veneto - Italy) or Lambrusco (red wine of Emilia - Romagna in Italy)