“Throw It All In” Pasta Salad
A tried and tested pasta salad, beloved by my friends! A great combination of flavours and textures, with lots of room to play depending on what you have and what you crave.
A Friend Favourite
The photo of the pasta salad in this article was actually sent to me by my friend Emily (an amazing artist and even more amazing human), who sent it to me after I gave her the recipe and she made it straight away!
I had my friends Vic (another amazing artist!) and Emily over to visit me in my new home and wanted to make something simple and accessible, ready to eat whenever they arrived without having to stand in the kitchen when they got here, so I opted for my trusted pasta salad. “Oh, you’ve made me this before”, Vic exclaimed (oh god, I thought! I am clearly not very inventive!), but she quickly followed by “and I loved it!”. She seemed genuinely excited about having the pasta salad again and was absolutely loving it. Emily loved it too, and when she came home she asked me if I could send her the recipe! It’s funny when you think something doesn’t even really “count” as a recipe, it’s just something you throw together, but it can be just the idea of what you throw together that people really enjoy, and it can be the tiny bit of inspiration that they need for their own cooking. We all have busy lives and a lot to think about, so if someone asks for the recipe for something you make, no matter how simple you think it is yourself, share it! They wouldn’t ask if they didn’t genuinely want to recreate it at home - which is a huge compliment.
A pasta salad can go a hundred different ways and it’s probably unnecessary to point out that not all (none, really) of the ingredients listed are musts. This combination really works for me, it’s all stuff I love (flavourites!) and gives you a great texture combo too, but omit or replace any one of these ingredients and you’ll still have a lovely dish. I’ve offered some of my substitute ideas at the bottom, but please do share your own too, I’d love to get inspired myself!
“Throw It All In” Pasta Salad
Makes enough for 3 hungry women and 1 baby (about 4 normal people)
Total time: Roughly 20 mins
200g pasta (fusilli, penne, conchigliette, macaroni or similar)
1 tbsp olive oil
100g grapes, halved
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
2 avocados, in chunks
100g croutons
2 celery sticks, chopped into small chunks
1 apple, small chunks
A handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
100g green leaves (spinach, lettuce, rocket, whatever you want)
1/2 cucumber, chopped into small chunks
1 mango, in chunks
Handful of olives, pitted and chopped into small chunks
100g cheddar cheese, chopped into small chunks
Dressing
1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar)
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Mixed herbs (can omit if adding fresh basil!)
Method
Cook pasta until al dente, make sure not to overcook so they keep their shape in the salad. While the pasta cooks, chop up all the ingredients for the salad. Cool the pasta down with cold water and mix in olive oil to avoid them sticking. Add pasta to a large bowl and add everything apart from avocado chunks and croutons (do these closer to serving so the avocado doesn’t go brown and the croutons don’t go soggy!).
Mix the ingredients of the dressing in a glass and either mix into the salad or leave on the side depending on preference.
Add avocado chunks and croutons and mix in, ready to eat!
Lovely substitutes to change up the salad if you make it again:
Courgette (can substitute cucumber)
Strawberries (can substitute grapes)
Feta or parmesan can substitute cheddar
Crushed tortilla chips can substitute croutons
Grated carrot, melon chunks…
Toasted (and cooled down) nuts or seeds (cashew, pecan, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds…)
Add some bits of cooked, cooled down chicken, lardons, pancetta, fried mushrooms…
