Cold Pasta Salad with Mozzarella and Cherry Tomatoes

Pasta Appetizer with Mozzarella and Cherry Tomatoes

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At first glance, there is something odd about the name: a pasta appetizer. We are used to “Olivier”, and pasta seems like the last thing you would make a salad from. A pasta appetizer sounds like alcohol-free vodka or low-fat salo.

Still, pasta appetizers are quite common dishes. They can be a dish on their own or a starter. They are something between ordinary pasta and a vegetable salad, or rather a combination of the two.

Most often, this kind of appetizer is more a chance creation than an established recipe. One such recipe is the pasta appetizer, a traditional summer dish, and not only a summer one, because the ingredients are available all year round, and small changes to the mix do no harm and only help.

Adding pasta to salads is a common Italian tradition. Special small pasta is made for salads, often in quite fanciful shapes, and sold in small packs. In the name of such pasta, the ending usually tells you its size: ette and etti mean small, ini means tiny.

What is interesting about appetizer recipes is that all the ingredients are added to taste, or by eye. The constant parts are pasta, tomatoes and basil. Even the cheese varies, or is left out altogether. And nobody skimps on ingredients; this is not pasta carbonara, where everything has to be in moderation. This is a salad, a very tasty summer appetizer served quite cold.

Ingredients

2 servings

For the pasta

  • Small pasta 125 g
  • Water for cooking the pasta 1.5 l
  • Salt for cooking the pasta 11 g (7 g per 1 l of water)

For the salad

For the dressing

  • Olive oil 2 tbsp
  • Garlic 1 clove
  • Balsamic vinegar a few drops

For serving

  • Fried bread 1-2 slices
  • Dried ground hot pepper a pinch

Step-by-step recipe

Pasta

For a pasta appetizer, short or even tiny special pasta is better. Long pasta turns a bit tough as it cools, and it becomes hard to pick up with a fork. Anelli (little rings), stelline (little stars) and orecchiette (little ears) all work well. But if you like, you can always find very small penne, fusilli or farfalle in the shops.

  1. Cook the pasta until almost done. Bring 1.5 l of water with 11 g of salt (7 g per 1 l of water) to a boil over high heat, add the pasta and cook, stirring.

    Small pasta.

    The cooking time is shown on the package, often separately for al dente and for fully cooked. Cook the pasta until almost done, 1-2 minutes less than the time given for al dente. Drain in a colander and let the water run off.

  1. Cool the pasta: transfer it to a bowl, cover with a cloth and stir from time to time so it does not stick together.

Salad

  1. Prepare the tomatoes: cut the cherry tomatoes in half, or leave them whole if they are not very large. Note that it is better to take tomatoes that are not overripe, but slightly “brown”.

    Cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.

  2. Dress the pasta. Combine the tomatoes with the almost cooled pasta, sprinkle with a pinch of dried oregano and add salt.

    Combining the tomatoes with the pasta.

    The dressing is easy to make: 2 tbsp of olive oil and a crushed clove of garlic. Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar and whisk the dressing with a fork; it emulsifies well.

    Dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

    Pour the dressing over the pasta with tomatoes and toss, so the olive oil dressing spreads over the pasta and keeps it from sticking together as it cools completely.

    Combining the pasta, tomatoes and dressing.

  1. Prepare the mozzarella and basil. Cut the mozzarella balls in half or into quarters. Recipes often recommend adding Parmesan to this appetizer. I think the Parmesan is unnecessary there. Fresh mozzarella is exactly the cheese that suits a pasta appetizer.

    Young basil is better; pick all the leaves off the stems. If the basil is overripe, just tear the leaves into pieces by hand. It is better not to cut them with a knife, so the juice does not run out.

  2. When the pasta has cooled completely to room temperature, add the basil and mozzarella to the salad and mix gently.

    Adding the basil and mozzarella to the salad.

  3. Put the salad in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours so the appetizer “soaks in” the flavors. It is served cold.

    The appetizer is served cold.

Serving

  1. Serve the cold pasta appetizer at the table before the meal begins. It goes very well with a glass of aperitif, or simply as a starter. I suggest adding 1-2 slices of fried bread, sprinkled with a pinch of dried ground hot pepper.

    Pasta appetizer

Calories and macros

2050 kcal

Serving ≈ 710 g

  • Protein134 g26% of kcal
  • Fat139 g62% of kcal
  • Carbs61 g12% of kcal

100 g288 kcalProtein 18.8 gFat 19.6 gCarbs 8.5 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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