Chef notes
Pasta salad is synonymous with summer. For me, it conjures up images of backyard barbecues and lunches by the pool. It can be served as a quick, make-ahead lunch or for a lazy dinner when you’re tired and can’t be bothered to cook. The best part about pasta salad is that it’s so versatile. You can use all kinds of fun pasta shapes to switch things up, and you’re free to add whatever fresh ingredients you like to give it flavor. Here, I’ve combined pasta salad with one of my favorite dishes — puttanesca.
Puttanesca is a tomato-based sauce that is usually served warm, tangled up with long, thin pasta noodles such as spaghetti or angel hair. It’s a hearty pasta dish that is often served during the winter, using canned tomatoes in lieu of fresh. Luckily, all of the components of puttanesca — tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies and garlic — translate beautifully to a fresh, warm-weather pasta salad that you can enjoy all summer long.
Anchovies and garlic are incorporated into the vinaigrette for this pasta salad. Mash them with the back of a sharp knife until they form a paste, then whisk them together with a bit of grainy mustard, sherry vinegar and olive oil. This dressing is tossed with the pasta while it’s still warm. Once cooled, you can add the rest of the ingredients — plump cherry tomatoes, mixed olives, capers and cubes of fresh mozzarella cheese (because what would a pasta salad be without it?).
Since the anchovies, olives and capers are each quite salty and briny on their own, I don’t add any salt to the pasta salad itself. The only salt in this recipe is used to season the pasta water.
Technique Tip: Tossing the pasta with the dressing while it’s still hot allows it to absorb all of the flavors more easily than if it were cool.
Swap Option: Any bold vinegar will work here — try something like red wine or balsamic vinegar instead.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 pound short pasta, such as cavatappi or fusilli
- 2 large cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 2-3 oil-packed anchovies, drained
- 1½ teaspoons whole-grain mustard
- 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup pitted mixed olives, such as kalamata and Cerignola, halved
- 1/3 cup capers, rinsed and drained
- 8 ounces fresh salted mozzarella, cubed
- fresh basil leaves, for serving
Preparation
1.Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then stir in the salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 9 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2.Meanwhile, using a large knife, finely mince the garlic and anchovies until they form a paste. Add to a large bowl along with the mustard, vinegar and black pepper and whisk to combine. Gradually whisk in the oil until thick and emulsified. Add the hot pasta and toss to coat in the dressing. Let cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
3.Add the tomatoes, olives, capers and mozzarella and toss to combine. Top with fresh basil and serve cold or at room temperature.
