Pasta salad with shrimps and potatoes
( Insalata di pasta patate e gamberetti )

Recipe for pasta salad with shrimps, potatoes, green beans and mushrooms

Preparation and cooking

• - Begin with shrimps.
  Thaw shrimps at room temperature.
  You need about two hours.
  But if you haven't enough time you can put them under running water or in a bowl with warm water for a quick thaw. Both these quick thaws don't help to preserve their taste.
  What about an overnight thaw in the fridge? It would be better, clearly.
• - Reconstitute mushrooms.
  Re-hydrate mushrooms in warm water for at least an hour or until they have softened.
• - Prepare green beans.
  Clean, wash and steam green beans.
  Let them cool and then pass through a food mill.
  Put them apart.
• - Cook mushrooms.
  Saute onion in 2 teaspoons olive oil together with bay leaf on low heat.
  Meanwhile squeeze mushrooms to remove any excess liquid and cut into little pieces if too big.
  Add mushrooms to sauted onion, let all ingredients flavor, a minute, stirring now and then.
  Then pour in some soaking liquid and hot water to cover mushrooms.
  Season to taste with salt and continue cooking until tender, stirring now and then, 15 to 20 minutes.
  Add other warm water if necessary.
  Let cooking juice reduce very well.
  Add parsley one minute before turning off the stove.
  Stir and put apart.
• - Cook potatoes.
  Put 2 teaspoons olive oil in a little non-stick frying pan and potatoes, cut into little pieces. Sprinkle with rosemary and fry lightly on low heat until tender, stirring frequently. Your potatoes must be golden and crunchy. Switch off the stove and seaon to taste with salt.
  Put them apart.
  You need about 15 minutes or less, it depends on the potato-piece size.
• - Cook pasta.
  Cook pasta al dente stage in abundant salt water (in which you can add remaining soaking liquid after filtering).
  Drain pasta and run under cold water in order to stop cooking, drain again.
• - The last steps.
  Transfer your pasta into a large bowl.
  Add mushrooms and potatoes with all their cooking juices, other 2 teaspoons olive oil and chives.
  Stir with delicacy and put apart.
  Transfer pureed green beans in the pan where you've cooked mushrooms or potatoes and let green beans thicken, stirring frequently.
  You needn't add any other olive oil.
  Season to taste with salt and add shrimps a minute before turning off the stove.
  Let all cool.
  Then add to the bowl and stir.

Just before serving

• - Add also some basil leaves, cut by hands, if you like. Stir.
• - Wait at least 30 minutes before serving.

Note

Tips

• - When my husband took this photo you can see I'd used malloreddus or Sardinian dry dumplings, a typical pasta of Sardinia but you can use the short pasta you prefer (penne, rotini, fusilli ...)
• - For a quicker recipe: use frozen green beans and mushrooms, dried chives and parsley.

Menu planning

• - Pasta salad with shrimps, potatoes, mushrooms and green beans is a long-to-do recipe. My tip is not to make it for a normal weekday lunch menu. On the contrary it is perfect for your Sunday lunch menu when you have more time and you'd like to prepare something special for your family. It can also be a tasty idea for a barbecue or an outdoor event such as a picnic.
  I remember you pasta salad is a perfect choice if you plan a buffet menu all year.
• - Test the warm version in cold months. You have only to warm up your pasta combined with all its ingredients in a non-stick frying pan on high heat for a minute, stirring with delicacy. In Italy we call it "ripassare la pasta in padella". It's fantastic!
• - If you make this pasta salad recipe for your family it's a tasty one-plate meal and serves four people. If you add it to other courses in a complete menu this recipe serves more people (up to 8 or more people)

Useful links for this recipe

• - A lot of people often ask to me if there are specific rules or a perfect pasta salad. In Italy everyone has his own idea as can be seen watching cooking shows on TV or reading recipes in books and newspapers, and the result is ... everything and its opposite. I tried to tell all my 25-year experience and I wrote a post in our blog. Read more ...
• - We have an interesting page on boletus mushrooms where you can read much more on this ingredients so important in Italian cuisine.

Healthy eating

• - Note the amount of calories and the combination of its ingredients. It can be only one-plate meal.
  Complete your meal with fresh seasonal vegetable if you are still hungry and fruit.
  I remember you to eat pasta preferably at lunch.
  Here are the doses per head: 50g (1 3/4 ounces) pasta, 50g (1 3/4 ounces) frozen shrimps, 10g (1/3 ounce) dried mushrooms, 60g (2.1 ounces) potatoes, 80 to 100g (2.8 to 3 1/2 ounces) green beans, aromatic herbs and less than 2 teaspoons olive oil.
• - As you can see it's a tomato-free recipe, ideal for people intolerant or allergic to tomatoes.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Pasta salad with shrimps and potatoes "?

My husband and I are used to match a rosé wine such as Corvo rosa (wine of Sicily) or a young red wine to this cold dish.