This pasta salad can be made with any dried pasta and pesto combination! I personally have fond memories of being taught how to make Orecchiette in Italy by an amazing 80year old Nonna, so I am a big fan, translated Orecchiette means “Little ears'', they are noticeably thicker than other pasta shapes and have a nice bite to them. To make them by hand, you take a long thin sausage of pasta dough and cut and roll each individual piece with the back of a knife. Goes without saying...if you haven’t been making it for years, it will take you a long time to make enough for dinner.
Serves 4-6 as part of a spread or 2 as a main meal
Ingredients
250g of Dried Orecchiette or Other pasta
A handful (roughly 40g) Basil/Wild Garlic/ Rocket or Spinach
75ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ TspSalt
½ Tsp Freshly milled black pepper
1 Small garlic clove (omit the garlic if you’re using wild garlic)
Juice of ½ a lemon
Optional -
Grated parmesan
Seeds or nuts (Pumpkin seeds or hazelnuts are great!)
Method - can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge.
Cook the pasta as detailed on the packets instructions, making sure to salt your water.
Once cooked, drain and run under cold water until all the pasta is cold. Tip the cold pasta into a bowl and drizzle with a little oil over it,, mix this through to stop the pasta sticking together.
To make your pesto, add all the ingredients to a blender, blend until your preferred coarseness (some like it chunky, some like it smooth). Be sure to taste your pesto and adjust the seasoning.
Mix your pesto through the pasta, add in seeds or extra grated cheese for some texture.