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This post was created in partnership with Harvey & Brockless. When I lived in California, I ate a lot of pasta salad. Sometimes I made my Roasted Vegetable Pasta as a big batch so I could enjoy it cold for days afterwards, but more often than not it was a favourite I still enjoy to this day packed up in my tupperware to enjoy in the Los Angeles sunshine between classes: my Deli Counter Pasta Salad.
Rich, tangy and packed with all those delicious things you preserved in oil on the deli counter alongside some fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and strips of bright, salty salami, this is the sort of pasta salad that just gets better and better in the fridge and one that you’ll want to bookmark for all of your packed lunches, picnics and gatherings going forward.
Also worth noting while we’re on the Harvey & Brockless website are their summer selection boxes which are packed with everything you need to sit out on the patio enjoying fresh cheeses, cured meats and some rather excellent looking smoked salmon if you’ve not been able to travel anywhere this summer and you fancy treating yourself. I’d totally be ordering one if I could eat cheese, and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed they’re doing Christmas hampers this year as I think they’ll be excellent for gifting.
This easy pasta salad gets better the longer it is in the fridge, and is packed with fresh tomatoes, marinated vegetables and salty strips of salami.
Ingredients
Scale
200g (7 oz) fusilli pasta
sea salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
140g (5 oz) fresh tomatoes
70g (2 1/2 oz) mixed roasted peppers, packed in oil
70g (2 1/2 oz) roasted aubergine slices, packed in oil
60g (2 oz) semi-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
50g (1 3/4 oz) salami
large handful fresh basil
Instructions
Cook the pasta in salted water as per the packets instructions. You want the pasta slightly softer than you would for a regular pasta dish, because pasta firms up as it cools and softer pasta will absorb the dressing in the pasta salad better.
In the bottom of a large bowl whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and 1/2 tsp of salt.
Finely chop the tomatoes and add them to the bowl, followed by the roasted peppers, aubergine slices and semi-dried tomatoes, cut into bite size pieces.
Drain the pasta and briefly run it under the cold tap, just to wash off any excess starch – you want the pasta to still be warm, as warm pasta will also absorb the dressing better!
Stir the pasta into the dressing until it is well coated. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cut the salami into strips and roughly chop the basil. Stir both into the room temperature pasta salad, and season to taste with a little more salt, if needed.
I'm a food writer, professional recipe developer and cookbook author living in the English Countryside. I love creating easy, accessable recipes filled with vibrant world flavours that are manageable on busy weeknights. Simple and delicious dinners, from my kitchen to yours!
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One Pan Pescatarian: 100 Delicious Dinners – Veggie, Vegan, Fish
My second cookbook contains 100 delicious dinner recipes, all of which are either vegetarian, vegan or which celebrate fish and seafood - all cooked in either one pot or one pan.*
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