Christmas pasta salad

Votes: 1

Time: 35 min.
Complexity: easily
Servings: 8 - 10

Nutritional value per serving:

Serving size: 1 of 14 servings
Calories 281, total fat 13 G., saturated fats 4 G., proteins 11 G., carbohydrates 31 G., fiber 3 G., cholesterol 14 mg, sodium 307 mg, sugar 3 G.

This pasta salad will be a vibrant addition to your holiday table. It's all about its traditional Christmas colors: a green spinach-almond pesto dressing, bright red slices of sun-dried tomatoes and roasted peppers, and crisp white mozzarella balls. The pesto can be made up to three days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The salad itself is made with well-chilled, cooked pasta. You can mix it up to four hours before serving and refrigerate it.

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

2 heads of broccoli (about 700 g), cut into florets
450 g mezze rigatoni pasta or other short tubular pasta
1/3 tbsp. + 2 tbsp. l. olive oil
1.5 cups small spinach
0.5 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan (about 55 g)
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tbsp)
2 tbsp chopped chives, plus extra for serving
2 roasted sweet peppers, patted dry and thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
0.5 cups sun-dried tomatoes in oil, patted dry and thinly sliced
220 g small mozzarella balls (or pearl mozzarella)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

We recommend

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

Bring a large saucepan of generously salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Drop the broccoli into the boiling water and cook until the florets are crisp-tender and bright green, about 2 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the broccoli to cold water to stop the cooking. Let it sit until completely cool, then drain and set the broccoli aside.

Bring the water in the pan back to a boil and cook the rigatoni according to package directions until al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander and transfer to a large bowl.
Toss pasta with 2 tablespoons olive oil to coat evenly and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil to a blender along with the spinach, Parmesan, almonds, basil, lemon juice, chives, and 1/4 cup water and blend until smooth.
Pour the pesto over the pasta and add the reserved broccoli, roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Toss gently to distribute the ingredients evenly.
Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and garnish with finely chopped chives. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 4 hours.

Categories:

recipe / Calorie content of prepared meals / Blender / Winter dishes / Festive dishes / Christmas / Salads / Salads with pasta and cereals / / Food Network - recipes

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