OK, last pasta post for a while – pinky swear. I just couldn’t resist recreating Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for pasta salad after spotting it in the July issue of Bon Appétit magazine. Plus, I had a box of creste di gallo sitting in the pantry begging to be used.
Pasta salad with roasted tomatoes, snow peas and spring onions is a quintessential summer dish. It’s light, bright and flavorful, thanks to the addition of fresh herbs and lemon juice. And it keeps well, too, which means you can enjoy leftovers for days to come (which is exactly what I did).
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit.
Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, Snow Peas and Spring Onions
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
Roasted tomatoes:
- 2½ cups red and yellow cherry tomatoes
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very thin matchsticks
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 1"-wide strips orange zest
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Remaining ingredients:
- 6 ounces snow peas, stem ends removed, cut diagonally into 1½" pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 2 large spring onions, bulbs cut into ½" thick wedges and green parts cut into 2" pieces
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces creste di gallo or other short pasta
- 1 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
- 1 cup thinly sliced fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
Make the roasted tomatoes:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place all ingredients (cherry tomatoes through pepper) in a 9" pie plate and toss to coat.
- Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and stir gently. Bake for an additional 20-30 minutes until tomatoes are tender and starting to burst. Remove from the oven, discard thyme stems and orange zest, and set aside.
Make the salad:
- In a fry pan, heat 1½ teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add about one-third of the snow peas and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining snow peas.
- In the same fry pan, heat remaining 1½ teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add spring onion bulbs and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Transfer to bowl with snow peas. Add about half of the spring onion greens and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Transfer to bowl with snow peas and spring onion bulbs. Repeat with remaining spring onion greens. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. Let cool to room temperature and then transfer to bowl with snow peas and spring onions.
- Add roasted tomatoes, basil, mint and lemon juice to bowl with pasta mixture and toss gently to combine. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
