Cold pasta salad, grandma’s recipe for a quick and summery cold pasta with tuna, corn, cooked ham, cherry tomatoes and more, as good as a rice salad.
Cold orecchiette with tuna and corn, cooked ham, hard-boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, Grana Padano and lettuce make a complete one-dish meal, great to take to the beach and perfect to prepare in advance. When summer heat makes cooking unbearable or after a morning at the beach turning on the stove is the last thing you want to do, a good plate of cold pasta, maybe prepared in the morning, can be the solution. You can take it to the beach, eat it comfortably on a day trip or at home after a tiring day — a real all-purpose dish! For this recipe I chose to use orecchiette, an ideal shape because it holds its texture well and its substantial flavor pairs nicely with the dressings.
Now let’s see how simple it is to prepare, but first remember that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer and Autumn
Ingredients to make a hearty pasta salad
- 18 oz Orecchiette (Dry)
- Salt
- 2 Eggs (Hard-boiled)
- 5 oz Tuna in oil (Drained)
- 2 oz Grana Padano (Cut into small cubes)
- 4 oz Cooked ham (Sliced or diced)
- 1.25 cups Corn (Drained)
- 15 Cherry tomatoes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 leaves Lettuce (or arugula, to taste)
Tools
- Pots
- Bowl
Preparation of the hearty cold pasta
Cook the orecchiette in plenty of salted water. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients from the list: the Grana cut into cubes, the ham in pieces, the cherry tomatoes halved, the tuna and the well-drained corn. Slice the eggs as well, but add them to the dressing only at the end.
Drain the pasta, drain it al dente and drizzle it with oil, let it cool and pour it into the bowl together with the other ingredients. Add the lettuce leaves cut into strips or the arugula and mix. Only now add the eggs and serve or store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
Notes
You can prepare the pasta at the moment for the upcoming meal or make it in advance and use it as needed; however I recommend consuming it the same day.
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