It’s that time of year again where fresh vegetables are available in abundance and we’re craving light, summery meals. We love being able to quickly throw together a delicious pasta salad filled with tasty seasonal ingredients, and this recipe is one of our head chef Roberta’s favourite dishes to make when she’s hosting an al fresco dinner party. Whilst we have chosen to use courgette, butternut squash and peppers for this recipe, you can substitute in any vegetables that you happen to have and it will be just as tasty!
Make our Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 50 mins
Calories per serving: 531kcal
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 350g fresh calamarata (or any fresh pasta you’ve got in)
- 1 courgette
- ½ butternut squash
- 1 red pepper
- ½ red onion
- 250g vine-ripened tomatoes
- 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 10g fresh parsley, to garnish
For the Dressing:
- 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2tbsp mayonnaise
- ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ½ tsp dried basil
- Pinch salt, to taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Method
- Preheat your grill at a high temperature. Cut your courgette, squash, pepper and onion into chunks that are roughly equal in size. Remove the tomatoes from the vines and slice them in half.
- Place the sliced vegetables on a large baking tray and drizzle over the olive oil. Gently toss the vegetables until they are well coated in oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
- Grill the vegetables until they are tender and beginning to char a little, this could take 10-15 minutes and you may want to turn the vegetables over halfway through so they cook evenly. Be sure to keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn.
- Allow the vegetables to cool slightly after grilling.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook until the pasta is al dente, usually 2-3 minutes if you’re using fresh pasta but longer for dried.
- Drain the pasta and allow it to cool slightly.
- While the pasta is cooking and the vegetables are cooling, prepare the vinaigrette. Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper in a bottle or jar. Shake until thoroughly combined.
- In a large bowl, combine the pasta, vegetables (chop these up a little more if they’re too large to eat as they are), and the parsley leaves. Drizzle the vinaigrette over top, using about half to begin with and adding more to taste.
- Toss the salad to ensure everything gets covered in the dressing and the pasta and vegetables are interspersed.
- Serve immediately or keep in the fridge until you’re ready to eat. Buon appetito!
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