Pesto Pasta Salad with Zucchini, Peas, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella

This pesto paste salad with a little presents summer pumpkin, peas and cherry tomatoes. Lightly dressed with basil pesto, creates a satisfactory vegetarian dinner that is equally delicious served or cold.

When the weather heats up, I want to minimize the time spent sweating on the stove. That’s why I love this pesto paste salad. If you have a jar of pesto at hand, it meets in 15 minutes. And since the recipe makes enough for a crowd, it is perfect for a patluck patio. It also makes a satisfactory and light dinner for lunch or week, still served directly from the pot or cold during the night.

I admit that I am a difficult customer when it comes to pasta salad. I often find them too heavy, too dressed or worse, Insipido! This fresh and light salad avoids all those traps. A lot of colorful and rapidly cooked vegetables are chewy Fusilli pasta. It is slightly dressed with tasty basil pesto, while the chilli flakes and lemon juice add audacity. Dimised morsels or fresh mozzarella balls of small size, lend a lush consistency and a little wealth. But if I am honest, the best part of the pasta salad could be that it is so easy to prepare.

What’s in pesto pasta salad?

You may already have some of the ingredients for this meal in your pantry. The rest is easy to find in your local food store or in the summer farmers market.

• Fusilli pasta: Riccio, small in size fusilli It is perfect for a salad of pasta with pesto sauce due to the way the small ripples are held on it. Any form of short pasta you like would also work well, including pens or butterflies.
• Kosher salt It is the key to condemning the water of the pasta and bringing out the flavor of the vegetables on this dish.
• Zuchinis: Delicate and slightly sweet summer squash adds a pop of sunny or intense green yellow. You can use any type or color of the summer pumpkin that you like.
• Snow or Snap Peas: Whited until only fresh and tender peas offer a welcome crunch with this salad.
• Red onion: Quickly ok the onion removes some of its bite, allowing you to use more without surviving the other ingredients. I like to cut it into 1 -inch segments, so it’s easy to eat with pasta and not in line.
• Cherry tomatoes: I love cherry and grape tomatoes because they add a burst of color and freshness and hold well in a salad.
• Basil Pesto: Our recipe asks before bouncing the basil, which preserves the vibrant green color. When I do it from scratch for this recipe, I prefer to use walnuts on the pine nuts, since they are not so rich and combine well with this light dish. It is also good to replace 1 cup of fresh pesto purchased in the shop.
• Pepper bows: Only a pinch of heat of the chili pepper gives this pasta a little zing. Jump if you want.
• Lemon juice: Only a few tablespoons of fresh lemon juice illuminate the flavor of the salad.
• Bocconcini: I love these balls of small mozzarella, so much that it is a struggle not to eat them while I prepare the salad! They reject the pesto of the basil and offer a delicious and sprinkling with crunchy vegetables.
• Basil leaves Add even more than their sweet salad perfume. To prevent them from drying out, mix fresh basil just before serving. I reserve the smallest leaves to spread on the finished plate for an elegant presentation.

How to prepare the pesto pasta salad

This dinner with a single pot makes cleaning a kids game! Make sure all the vegetables are prepared and ready to whiten when the pasta has finished cooking.

Make it your

As long as you maintain the amount of vegetables and the same pasta, there are many ways to take your ride on this recipe. Here are some ideas:

• Vary the vegetables: Try beans or broccoli peaks instead of snap peas.
• Change the pasta: Any small pasta will work here. The good options are pens, butterflies or twins.
• Pesto options: I love the traditional pesto made with fresh basil, but other herbs and vegetables add variety. You can also make pesto using a mixture of parsley and rocket instead of basil for a distinctly pepper flavor. Try this recipe with upper carrot pesto, tomato pesto dried in the sun or Sicilian almond pesto instead of basil pesto.

What to serve with pesto pasta salad

This salad is perfect alone as a light lunch or dinner. If you are entertaining the guests, I would serve it with this simple grilled chicken breast, which takes only a few minutes to burn on a hot grill, together with a green salad, such as this summer berries salad with rocket and burrata, dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. Your guests could also appreciate a glass of Red Sangria or this non -alcoholic Sangria with Ibisco and Thyme.

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