Authentic Italian Cooking
Pasta salad
Pasta salad or cold pasta ... however you call it, this is definitely one of the summer favorite dishes for most Italians and, I think, for many people in the world. It solves the problem of lunch or dinner when it's hot but it is a great help for cold dinners, barbecue parties and meals, buffet-style. I have been doing experiments with cold pasta and its ingredients for about 25 years and I've put together many classic or innovative recipes you can adapt to every day menus or your special invitations. All recipes are well tested and largely verified in my kitchen ;))
Vegetarian pasta salad
Pasta salad with speck and asparagus
Pasta salad with artichokes and surimi crab sticks
Italian pasta salad with black truffle and rabbit
Pasta salad with borlotti beans
Pasta salad with green beans & salmon trout
Pasta salad with buffalo mozzarella
Pasta salad with octopus and beans
Pasta salad with sardines
Pasta salad with mackerels
Pasta salad with quail eggs
Mediterranean pasta salad
Green pasta salad
Pasta salad with shrimps and potatoes
Pasta salad, Capri-style
Ravioli salad with trout & melon
Pasta salad with octopus and green beans
Pasta salad with smoked salmon and artichokes in oil
Pasta salad with tomatoes and chickpeas
Fresh tomato and basil pasta salad
What is pasta salad in Italy?
Well, imagine a classic Italian dish of macaroni, topped with a tomato sauce flavored with aromatic herbs. Now transfer your mind to its summer version: ripe tomatoes, basil, aromatic herbs, good-quality olive oil. Macaroni are dressed and put apart at room temperature to flavor, at least 30 minutes!
That 's how I tasted my first dish of pasta salad in a prestigious hotel in Ischia 25 years ago.
It was love at first taste and this love continues. You just have to scroll through the index and look for the recipe you like more.
Summer is so long ...
that you can test a lot of these recipes :)))
Let's begin with a set of rules and some tips of mine ...
Every day I receive a lot of questions on this topic. So I wrote a guideline with some tips: how to choose, cook and drain pasta, prepare the right sauce and preserve it. All this according to the Italian cuisine!
Making a cold dish of pasta can be very laborious. How to simplify it for your daily family menu? prepare my sauce with tomatoes and grated bell peppers in big quantity. Freeze it in the right portions and enjoy pasta salad every day!
Making a good pasta dish can be a very easy thing but you can complicate all for nothing. Read carefully my post to simplify everything! For example, ask yourself if the size of your pot and the volume of water are enough ;))
Here are a lot of recipe ideas according to their ingredients!
All ingredients are cut into ring. From peppers to olives to zucchini. The pasta I chose has a ring shape too. Tasty and scenic, perfect for your special get-togethers, birthday dinner menus ... !
This recipe is great for early summer if you want to use fresh asparagus, but asparagus works well frozen too. I tested it many times and every time my guests agree with me: it is fantastic!
Artichokes and surimi crab sticks
This dish has a real advantage: it is very fast to do because you can use ready-made ingredients. When you go back home in the evening, you have only to slice surimi, open a can of artichoke hearts in brine, cook pasta and all is ready. Just the time to let it rest, 30 minutes.
This is really great, I would say superb.
Select it, if you are planning a very special event ... then let me know your opinion ;))
This pasta unlike the previous sounds more rustic. It 's ideal for a barbecue or a garden party. In addition to beans and eggs visible in the photo its ingredients are ripe tomatoes, pickled gherkins and vegetables in oil.
This is a real summer single course that combines the carbohydrates of pasta, protein of fish , fat of seasonings and beneficial properties of seasonal vegetables.
This is a fantastic dish for your special occasions made with typical Italian ingredients: buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, Porcini in oil and artichokes in oil. I'm obliged to make double portions for my guests! ;))
Another version with octopus but here I added beans too.
I created this recipe an evening when I had a special guest, lover of seafood!
I make it several times in summer. My husband and I are sardine lovers and I assure you that this kind of fish marinated in citrus juice is great. But do not worry! they are not raw. After the marinade they must be cooked :-)
Do you like mackerels? They taste fantastic in pasta salad recipe too.
Follow my directions to prepare an unusual summer recipe.
Its ingredients are: wholemeal pasta, chopped tomatoes, basil, chives, olive oil and mozzarella little balls. It tastes fantastic but ... what a pity its calories ... don't make it frequently!
If you look for a classic Italian recipe, this is for you. Without any surprise. Really enjoy it at all. I prepare it every time I have guests of all ages.
Its name is Mediterranean for its ingredients: taggiasca olives, fried croutons, confit tomatoes and dried fruit. It's a vegan recipe suitable for all ages. You can choose it for your summer parties without any doubt: everyone will like it!
The name is due to its colors. In fact its main ingredients are green beans and tuna in oil. Serve it as one-plate meal. Tasty and easy-to-do recipe!
Not only shrimps and potatoes but green beans and porcini mushrooms too. This cold pasta dish is ideal for your special events: astonish your guests!
I think I made this recipe more than fifteen years ago for the first time. It was the first pasta salad my husband and I published on our site and this recipe has been multiplied since then and its photo too ... you can find it on many sites. I do not know whether to be happy or not. I think not, after all. Guess why ... ;)
But my pasta is good, the real classic versions of Italian pasta salad.
Homemade ravioli stuffed with tuna and olives and topped with fresh tomatoes.
You'll lick your lips!
Lots of work but a lot of satisfaction too!Special dish for a special menu!
Have you ever tried to make ravioli salad? My husband and I really like it.
This is our first version. Have you ever tried to combine fruit with pasta? Test it ... I'm waiting for your opinion ...
The image is sunny ... reminds summer. Its taste? fantastic. We have nasturtium flowers in our organic garden. They are fashionable, a lot of cooks use them to decorate their dishes. They're edible too and remind capers, great!
Combine octopus and pasta for your summer cold pasta dishes. See also the other version with the addition of beans :-)
Another good combination for you: salmon with artichokes in oil ... hmm ... gnam, gnam ...
Do you guess? I like it very much!
Easy-to-do and tasty summer recipe!
I used chili pasta and tomatoes for this recipe: tasty and easy to do provided you like hot chili pepper!
This is a proposal for your daily menus. Pulses should be eaten with pasta. The combination is perfect and healthy. Good, very good for those who love chickpeas.
If you have ripe and firm tomatoes, this recipe will be very good. It's the easiest way to prepare a summer main dish, Italian-style.
You can easily eat it all days ... look at its calories ;)
In Italy we call mimosa every recipe in which yolk eggs are crumbled. This pasta dish is tasty both hot and cold. So you can find its recipe in our directory dedicated to dry pasta.
Autore: Loretta Sebastiani
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