Cold pasta with zucchini and salmon, or better with zucchini pesto and salmon, a summer first course perfect to be enjoyed hot, cold or at room temperature — a very quick, light and tasty dish ideal for many occasions and the reason I added it to my collection of Quick summer pastas. Some time ago I had a busier day than usual and I already knew from the morning that once I left the house I would be out all day. So before leaving I thought to prepare lunch in advance and make a cold pasta: my children would find it when they got back from school and my husband would have it for dinner. In the fridge I had some zucchini and smoked salmon; I improvised a quick zucchini pesto with basil, cheese and pine nuts and used it to dress the pasta together with the smoked salmon: zucchini and salmon are truly an ideal combination and let you prepare an exceptional one-dish meal with the pasta! For my cold pasta I chose fusilli, perfect for catching the dressing, and short pasta holds its texture well and even when cold never goes soggy. That’s what I did, and at lunchtime my children phoned to compliment me: my cold pasta with zucchini pesto was delicious and very aromatic and it was still so good at dinner that even my husband ate it all in a flash!

Would you like to try it too? Follow me in the kitchen and you’ll see that this cold pasta with salmon and zucchini is light, special and delicious. If you are looking for quick summer recipes, this one is perfect for you.

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Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Low cost
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Portions: 5
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

Ingredients

1 lb 9 oz zucchini
3 oz robiola (fresh Italian cheese)
2 oz cheese (such as Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano)
10 leaves basil (large)
1 pinch garlic
to taste extra virgin olive oil
1 oz pine nuts
to taste salt
14 oz pasta (short)
7 oz smoked salmon

Tools

1 Blender
1 Pot
1 Microwave oven or a skillet
1 Bowl

Steps

Rinse the zucchini, trim the ends and cook them. I placed them in a bowl, covered them with a plate and cooked them in the microwave at 900W for 10 minutes; alternatively you can steam them for the same amount of time or blanch them for 4 minutes in boiling water and then drain them well.
Put a large pot filled with water on the heat and as soon as it starts boiling season with salt and add the pasta.
Let the zucchini cool slightly and put them in the blender jug along with the robiola, the grated cheese, the basil, a pinch of garlic and the pine nuts; add a generous drizzle of olive oil, season with salt and blend until you obtain a smooth cream.
Drain the pasta and run it under cold running water to stop the cooking and remove excess starch. Let it drain well.
Cut the salmon into cubes, pour the zucchini cream over the pasta (I kept a little aside because it seemed like a lot and I used it on bruschetta), add the salmon and mix.
Our dish is ready; it can be eaten immediately or after a few hours of resting. If you prefer you can also store it in the fridge covered with cling film and enjoy it cold the next day.
If you liked this recipe, also check out:
–Cold pasta with salmon, arugula, cherry tomatoes and corn;
–Cold pasta with avocado-basil cream and salmon;