Pasta salad with tomato dressing

Summer’s when tomatoes are at their best. And what better way to celebrate this delicious vegetable than a cold pasta salad?

The tomato dressing is truly the hero of this dish. Everything else is a side show. This recipe was featured in a Sainsbury magazine and was created by one of its readers, winning the contest of that month. It’s easy to see why!

This wasn’t originally a vegetarian dish but it was easy to make it vegetarian. I have added What The Cluck ‘chicken’ pieces from the Vegetarian Butcher because I love them so much, but if you’re not a fan then this dish is filling enough to leave them out. You’ll also get the protein from the peas.

And because it is summer, and I want the tomatoes to truly be the hero, I also added some fresh cherry tomatoes. They truly are at their best this time of the year so I try to make the most of it!

Pasta salad with tomato dressing

15 minutes preparation + 10 minutes cooking — serves 2 to 3

Ingredients

  • 220 grams dried spirali or penne
  • 200 grams cherry tomatoes
  • 200 grams frozen petit pois
  • 2 vine tomatoes
  • 1 red chili
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 10-15 sundried tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons oil from the sundried tomatoes jar
  • 2 teaspoons white wine or apple vinegar
  • 1 pack of Waht The Cluck from the Vegetarian Butcher
  • 0.5 tablespoon chicken seasoning
  • 30 grams fresh basil
  • Salt
  • Oil

Preparation

  1. Heat a liter of water in a kettle.
  2. Cook the pasta with the preboiled water and a pinch of salt in a pot for c. 9 minutes.
  3. Add the frozen petit pois to the pasta and cook for another 2 minutes.
  4. Drain the pasta and petit pois and cool down under some cold water. Keep aside.
  5. While the pasta is cooking, mix the What The Cluck pieces with the chicken seasoning and a tablespoon of oil.
  6. Heat some oil in a pan and once hot, add the What The Cluck pieces. Fry for c. 7 minutes until brown and crispy.
  7. Remove the What The Cluck pieces from the pan and keep aside.
  8. Slice the chili.
  9. Wash the vine tomatoes and cut into large pieces.
  10. Add the chili, vine tomatoes, garlic, 5 sundried tomatoes, oil from the jar, vinegar, and half the basil to a food processor. Blitz for about a minute until smooth.
  11. Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut into quarters.
  12. Chop the remaining sundried tomatoes into smaller pieces.
  13. Mix the sundried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, What the Cluck pieces, remaining basil, pasta and petit pois with the tomato dressing.
Enjoy your meal!

Did you like this?

Leave a comment below if you made this recipe, and let me know what you think. Tips and feedback to improve the recipe are always welcome too!