Pesto Pasta Salad

Today is going to be a quick and easy recipe – oh yes, and delicious of course!

We’ve bought pesto pasta salad in stores a few times and then there are usually two things we miss in this salad – it lacks pesto and it’s dry! Nowadays we’d much rather make our own pesto pasta salad and guess what? It’s much tastier than the store-bought salad!

Put it on the table:

The ingredients for this salad can vary – you can throw in whatever you like, but it should always include pasta and pesto. The secret ingredient however is a dollop or two of mayonnaise, because that way you make sure the salad is not dry.

And, of course you can make your own pesto. But the Ina Paarman basil pesto that we buy in our store is very good and there is no reason to go through the whole process of making your own pesto.

Ingredients for Pesto Pasta Salad

250g pasta (we like to use Fusilli)

2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

½ cup olives, pitted and cut in half

½ cup sweet piquanté peppers (peppadews), roughly chopped

1½ wheels feta cheese, diced

2 heaped tablespoons of basil pesto

3 heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise

salt & pepper, to taste

Start by cooking the pasta in salted water. Here’s a tip: Most of us like our pasta al dente, but when you use it in a cold salad, cook the pasta a little longer. The pasta firms up as it cools and even hardens as it refrigerated, so cooking it soft will ensure your pasta has the perfect texture when it cools.

Important: Keep ½ cup of the pasta water to use later.

Cook and drain pasta well

Allow the pasta to cool slightly. Then it’s just a matter of tossing. We add the chopped cherry tomatoes and feta to the pasta first, followed by the olives and peppadews.

Add tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and peppadews

Salad before adding the dressing

Now, let’s get to the stars of the show (okay, the main ingredients if you will). Mix the mayonnaise and pesto in a separate bowl and add some of the pasta water so that the dressing is not too sticky and thick (but be careful not to add too much water, because you don’t want a runny salad dressing).

Mix mayonnaise and pesto

Add pasta water and mix well

Pour the sauce over the salad and gently mix everything together.

Pesto Pasta Salad

A true symphony of flavours

And what do you serve with a pesto pasta salad? Well, you can’t go wrong with steak and garlic butter.

A simple but delicious meal