Salt and vinegar pasta salad
Salt and vinegar pasta salad
In the time honored salt and vinegar pairing, the liveliness of vinegar is amplified by the competing vigor of salt. The idea is flawless.
In this recipe, I’ve developed the ultimate pasta salad, one that is endlessly riffable, based upon your pantry and the seasons. The base of the ‘flavouring’ are the quick pickled veggies – I’ve used cucumbers, corn and shallots because that is what I had from my market haul, but there are many options of what veg you could sub in. See my list below. Pasta salads, being starchy, need emphatic flavours to avoid being bland. Use vinegar liberally and salty additions generously. Vinegar and salt are often inseparable, especially in pickling and marinating. Vinegar is used in this recipe to soften the veg and draw out moisture, acidic cornichons (use pickles or gherkins as a sub) add lucid flavours, while saltiness comes from the olives and feta.
Other veg you could pickle for this salad, all sliced thinly, of course:
zucchini / broccoli / cauliflower / brussels sprouts / fennel / turnips / radish / asparagus / sugar snap or snow peas / carrots / scallions (green onions)
Serves 6 to 8
vegan / for gluten free, use gf pasta
Ingredients
- 2 Persian cucumbers (200g), thinly sliced
- 2 ears of corn, kernels removed (1bout 1 1/2 - 2 cups)
- 1 shallot (eschalot), finely sliced
- 30g (1 ounce) semi sun-dried tomatoes
- 80ml (1/3 cup) vinegar such as red wine, rice, apple cider or white
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 pound (450g) short pasta shape
- 30g (1 ounce) cornichons, sliced
- 2 tablespoons pickle juice (from cornichons), optional
- 50g (1/3 cup) black olives, sliced
- 60ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
- Black pepper
- 200g (7 ounces) feta cheese, crumbled
- handful of soft herbs such as dill, basil, parsley, coriander (cilantro), mint etc
Place the cucumber, corn, shallot, and semi sun-dried tomato in a non-reactive bowl. Add the vinegar and sugar and toss. Leave to pickle for 30 minutes - it can be left to pickle at room temperature for up to 4 hours or stored overnight in the fridge.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions, until al dente. Drain.
While the pasta is still warm (not mandatory but adding while warm encourages the pasta to soak up the flavours), add it to the pickled cucumber mixture, along with the cornichons, pickle juice, black olives, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, feta cheese and herbs. Toss to combine.
Eat immediately or cover and allow to sit for a few hours at room temperature before serving. When you are ready to eat, you can add a touch more olive oil to loosen it up.