Double-Tomato Pasta Salad

Amarante

Tue, Jul 05 2022, 9:47 am

This was a great summer salad - don't need much except a simple protein to make a complete meal and salad is made ahead of time - or as notes indicate you can add chickpeas or even a fish to make a complete meal.

Double-Tomato Pasta Salad
By Ali Slagle

* YIELD  4 to 6 servings
* TIME  35 minutes, plus cooling

For full-spectrum tomato flavor, this pasta salad pairs fresh tomatoes with sun-dried tomatoes. The sun-dried tomato oil and the water that’s released from salted tomatoes serve as a built-in dressing. Nuts and herbs add crunch and freshness, but you should feel free to add more embellishments right before serving, like mozzarella or shaved Parmesan, white beans or chickpeas, sardines or another tinned fish, or briny condiments like capers or olives.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (7- to 8-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
* 1 ½ cups raw pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds, coarsely chopped
* ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
* Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 pound long or twirly noodles, like linguine or fusilli
* 2 pounds ripe tomatoes
* Lemon juice or red wine vinegar, to taste
* 2 cups torn basil, mint, dill or arugula leaves, or a combination

PREPARATION

1. Holding back the sun-dried tomatoes with your fingers, drain the oil from the jar into a large pot. Coarsely chop the sun-dried tomatoes and add them to the pot, along with the nuts and olive oil. Set over medium-low and cook, stirring often, until the nuts are toasted, 5 to 6 minutes. Scrape into a large bowl (reserve the pot), then stir in the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

2. Fill the reserved pot with water (no need to wash) and bring to a boil. Season water with salt, add the pasta and cook until just past al dente. (The pasta will not cook further in the sauce.) Drain the pasta.

3. While the water is coming to a boil, coarsely chop the ripe tomatoes. Add to the sun-dried tomato mixture, season with 1 teaspoon salt and stir to combine. (Tomato mixture can be made up to 2 hours ahead.)

4. Add the drained pasta to the tomato mixture and stir to combine. Let sit until room temperature, about 15 minutes or up to 2 hours. Pasta salad will keep up to 3 days if refrigerated.

5. When ready to eat, taste the pasta salad. If flavors are muted, add salt and lemon juice or red wine vinegar. If it’s too sweet, add black pepper and lemon juice or red wine vinegar. Stir in the greens and eat.