Creamy homemade pasta salad that’s great for making as a main or side dish. Bursting with slightly sweet and wonderfully sour flavors, it features a mayo dressing and some crunchy fresh veggies.
Bring heavily salted water to a boil in a large pot on high heat. When cooking pasta you want to include enough salt so that the water “tastes like the ocean”.
Add ziti or your preferred small-to-medium sized pasta to the boiling water.
Reduce the heat to medium or medium-high, so that the water continues boiling but does not bubble over. Stir the pasta in intervals and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions.
The pasta should be al dente, or feel free to cook longer if you like a softer texture or are making a cold salad.
Once cooked strain the pasta in a colander.
For a cold salad, rinse the salad in fresh water or drizzle some oil on them and mix gently - to prevent the pasta from sticking.
Making mayo dressing
Take the mayonnaise, extra virgin olive oil, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, ground black pepper, sweet paprika, sugar and salt as per taste in a mixing bowl.
Mix very well.
Check the taste of the dressing and feel free to add more seasonings to suit your taste. You can add more sugar too.
Making pasta salad
Add the cooked pasta.
Add in the chopped veggies - onions, capsicum, carrots. Add the finely chopped celery, parsley and sliced olives if using.
Toss and combine well so that the pasta and veggies are coated with the mayo dressing.
Garnish with parsley and serve right away while warm, or allow the pasta salad to cool before storing in the fridge to chill and enjoy cold.
Serving suggestions
Serve pasta salad as a main dish with your preferred Italian-inspired sides.
For a lighter meal serve with fresh vegetables - cucumber, radish, carrots or greens - like spinach or kale, either as a raw salad or steamed.
Pasta salad is great for brunch or an afternoon lunch, or even as a hearty snack between meals.
Notes
Storage
Transfer homemade pasta salad to an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 days. To maintain the best texture I don't suggest that you freeze.
Variations
Veggies: Add a handful of boiled corn kernels or green peas for extra veggies. You can also add sautéed or blanched dark leafy greens, like spinach, chard or kale. Some lettuce also tastes nice.
Vinegar: I use red wine vinegar, but feel free to use white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar instead.
Pasta type: Any medium to small pasta or macaroni can be used to make this salad. While my recipe calls for ziti, you can include fussili, bowtie, rigatoni, shell or farfalle pasta.
Herbs: You can fresh or dried herbs of your liking or change their quantities.
Gluten-free: To make a gluten-free salad replace ziti with a gluten-free pasta variety.
Spices: Omit black pepper or paprika if you do not prefer these. In place of sweet paprika, add ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper.