Description
A bright, summery pasta salad that's just as flavorful and refreshing as it is beautiful.
Ingredients
Scale
For The Ditalini Pasta Salad
- 1 lb Ditalini Pasta
- 16 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into half-inch cubes
- 5 oz sugar snap peas, (About 1 heaping cup)
- 5 oz English peas (about 1 cup)
- 10 mint leaves, chopped
- 10 basil leaves, chopped (Use one or the other if you don't want to buy both)
For the Dressing
- 1 Tb dijon mustard
- The juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 inch ginger, grated
- 1/2 cup plus 2Tb olive oil
- 1/8 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, plus more to taste.
Instructions
- Boil a large pot of water and season it heavily with salt. (Note 1)
- Cube the mozzarella and slice the sugar snap peas. Set them aside.
- Prepare an ice bath in a bowl (Note 2)
- When the water boils, add the Ditalini to the pot and stir to prevent sticking. Then place all of the peas (English and sliced sugar snap) in a sieve, and lower the sieve into the pot so that the peas cook in the water but remain in the sieve. (see note 3) Set a timer for 2.5 minutes, then remove the peas and place directly into the ice bath.
- Continue to boil pasta per package instructions, or until it reaches your desired doneness. When the pasta has finished cooking, dump it through a colander in the sink. Rinse with cold water, just until pasta is cool. Place pasta in a large mixing or serving bowl.
- Strain the peas, removing any remaining ice cubes, and patting them dry with a paper towel. Add peas, mozzarella and herbs to the bowl with the Ditalini.
- Make the dressing by whisking together the lemon juice and zest, grated ginger, white balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt. Toss with the ditalini salad.
- Taste for seasoning! It may need more salt than what you put in your pasta water or dressing. You can refrigerate this salad until ready to serve it. Right before serving, taste it again. Pasta tends to soak up liquid, so add a splash more olive oil, vinegar, or lemon if you think it needs a lift.
Notes
- We need the pasta to soak up salty water in order for it to be tasty, especially since we have to rinse the pasta after cooking it. Taste the water before adding the pasta to make sure it tastes salty.
- Place ice and cold water in a bowl big enough to hold the English and sugar snap peas
- Use a sieve deep enough to submerge the peas into the water. OR make sure you fill the pot to the top with water to fully submerge and cook the peas.
Keywords: ditalini pasta salad with peas, ditalini pasta salad, ditalini