Fresh and delicious Mediterranean pasta salad. Summer arrives and cooking becomes an impossible task, at least for me in Puglia where summer coincides with scorching temperatures. So it becomes impossible to stand in front of the stove, especially during the hottest hours of the day, but luckily there are cold pastas, vegetable salads or rice salads. We prepare them in advance when we can stand being in the kitchen and enjoy them cold. Always different and always special like the recipe I want to tell you about today. A cold pasta with tuna and cherry tomatoes, tasty and flavorful but also very simple to prepare. I added boiled peas, corn, oil-packed tuna, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella balls to the boiled pasta. As a dressing, I used lemon zest and juice along with olive oil. The result was a fresh and delicious dish perfect to enjoy cold, but also to take with you in your cooler bag directly to the beach or a picnic. In short, a recipe that will be a must-have this scorching summer. I also recommend not missing the recipe for the Farro Salad. Let’s then run to the kitchen and prepare a delicious Mediterranean cold pasta together.

AND DON’T MISS THESE RECIPES TOO:

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Economical
Rest time: 1 Hour
Preparation time: 15 Minutes
Portions: 4 People
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

293.48 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 293.48 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 30.53 (g) of which sugars 3.98 (g)
Proteins 16.98 (g)
Fat 11.29 (g) of which saturated 4.65 (g)of which unsaturated 3.47 (g)
Fibers 2.64 (g)
Sodium 609.30 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 200 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients for Cold Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Mozzarella

11.3 oz pasta (your preferred shape)
3.5 oz frozen peas
2.8 oz sweet corn, canned, drained
3.5 oz oil-packed tuna
5.3 oz cherry tomatoes
5.3 oz yellow cherry tomatoes
7 oz mozzarella balls
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon (untreated)
to taste salt

How to Prepare the Mediterranean Pasta Salad

First, cook the pasta, your preferred shape, in plenty of salted water. Drain it al dente and transfer it to a bowl. Dress it with 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and mix. Let it cool.
While the pasta is cooking, cook the frozen peas in a saucepan with slightly salted water. It will take about 7-8 minutes, but it depends on the quality of the peas you use. Drain them and transfer them to a bowl with cold water, this way they will keep their bright green color. Then drain them.
Wash the yellow and red cherry tomatoes and cut them into small pieces, removing the seeds and internal liquid. Drain the corn from the preservation liquid. Also, drain the tuna.
Add the cherry tomatoes, corn, tuna, and peas to the now-cooled pasta. If the mozzarella balls are larger, cut them in half.
Add the mozzarella to the pasta as well. Wash the lemon thoroughly. Cut the zest, only the yellow part, into very thin strips. Squeeze the lemon to obtain the juice.
Dress the pasta with the lemon zest and juice. Also, add 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and mix well using 2 tablespoons. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the cold pasta salad cool in the fridge for at least an hour.
See you tomorrow with a new recipe, a hug, Loredana