Lovely easy homemade pasta salad for a hot summer day

Are you ready for summer? This lovely easy homemade pasta salad is one of the best recipes for your family. It’s easy, it’s delicious, and doesn’t take much time to make. I started using this recipe back in 2014 when it was a hot day. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen because of the heat. l looked at my kitchen cabinets and fridge. What I found was pasta, olive oil, a jar of pesto, cucumber and cherry tomatoes.

Cut the vegetables into small pieces

Now, 12 years later this easy homemade recipe evolved to a great pasta salad that my family loves to eat. The secret to this great pasta salad is to cut the vegetables in small pieces. It doesn’t matter what you add, the trick is to cut everything, beside the pasta, into small pieces. Yes it doesn’t take more time but it does pay off when you are eating the pasta salad. And this is a great way to help your children to eat more fresh vegetables. Start using this recipe and make it great for you and your family.

Build the flavor for children

If you have children and they are not familiar with the taste of pesto, start with just a couple of tsps, add a bit more olive oil and a small amount of extra salt. As they get used to the pesto taste you can decrease the amount of oil and salt and add more pesto from the jar. If you prefer not to add more salt you can use garlic powder as a salt replacement. Be careful with garlic powder because it can overwhelm the flavor easily. The way to go is to add some seasoning, taste, add more if needed, taste again until you are satisfied with the flavor. This is how you learn about great tasting food.

Make it in advance

If you make the pasta salad in the morning, or the evening before, and put it into the fridge for later that day, always add a bit more seasoning. I find the flavor diminish when food is cooled. But again, it’s up to your taste.

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 1 pack of pasta of your choice (you only need half the pack)
• 1/2 a cucumber, slides in small pieces
• 2/3 pack of cherry tomatoes, dices in four
• 4 tsp of pesto
• 4 tsp of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dried oregano (optional)
• Garlic powder (optional)
• Roasted pine nuts (optional)
• Fresh leaves of basil for garnish (optional)

Materials:

• Saucepan to cook the pasta
• Sieve
• Large bowl

Instructions for making the pasta salad:

1. Cook the pasta according the instructions on the pack.
2. In the meantime cut the cherry tomatoes into 4 and 1/2 a cucumber in small pieces and put them a large bowl.
3. Drain the pasta in a large sieve, add some olive oil and shake the pasta very well. Let the pasta cool a bit before you add it to the cucumber and tomatoes. Shake once every minute so the pasta doesn’t stick.
4. Add the pasta to the cucumber and tomatoes. Add the olive oil, pesto, salt and pepper to taste and stir well.
5. Serve immediately or cover with foil and cool in the fridge for later.

Tips for ingredients to add to this recipe:

• celery
• broccoli florets
• sun dried tomatoes
• olives
• red bell pepper
• Feta or mozzarella cheese

For more dinner recipes check out my easy salmon with broccoli and cherry tomatoes article