Although it may be the Dog Days of Summer there's no reason to turn your back on something as delicious as pasta. Served cold with any variety of vegetables, a pasta salad is a great way to beat the heat. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino will tell you this is one of the best dishes for culinary improvisation.
Technically, you should only use nice compact pasta shapes, especially if they are hollow. Elbow macaroni, penne, orchiette, ziti and rigatoni are perfect. The point is, they will capture the sauce in the salad and give you a tastier bite.
Here are a pair of recipes from Jerry that you ought to try.
Gazpacho Pasta Salad
Ingredients
1 lb. of penne pasta, cooked al dente and cooled
1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, such as Anaheim, cored, seeded and cut into ¼ inch dice
1 sweet red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into ¼ inch dice
1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, peeled and cut into ¼ inch dice
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into ¼ inch dice
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives roughly chopped
½ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
½ cup feta cheese crumbled
For the dressing:
1 pound ripe red tomatoes, cored and roughly cut into chunks
1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, such as Anaheim, cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
1 sweet red bell pepper, cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, peeled, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
1 small red onion, peeled and roughly cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & hot sauce to taste
To make the dressing:
Combine tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic in a blender or, if using a hand blender, in a deep bowl. (If necessary, work in batches.) Blend at high speed until very smooth, at least 2 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
Gazpacho Pasta Salad cont’d
With the motor running, add the vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will turn bright orange or dark pink and become smooth and emulsified, like a salad dressing. If it still seems watery, drizzle in more olive oil until texture is creamy. Strain the mixture through a strainer, pushing all the liquid through with a spatula or the back of a ladle. Discard the solids. Chill the dressing for at least one hour but it will get better if you leave it in the fridge overnight.
Before serving, adjust the seasonings with salt, hot sauce and vinegar.
To make the salad
Place all of the ingredients in a bowl, dress liberally with the dressing and serve.
Cucumber & Lemon Elbows
Ingredients
1 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked al dente and cooled
3 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
The zest of two large lemons
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 cups Greek yogurt
Salt to taste
Place the cucumbers into a food processor set with the chopping blade and sprinkle with salt. Pulse a few times to get the cucumbers to look like coarse oatmeal. Add the basil, lemon zest and juice and purée until smooth and slightly green in color. Place the purée in a mixing bowl and whisk in the yogurt. Adjust the seasoning with salt. Toss the spaghetti in the dressing and serve.
