But this isn’t just a pasta salad! It has crunch, it has texture, it has taste, it has a combination of freshness you just can’t seem to put your finger on. But more importantly justa enjoya it!
Fried Justa Pasta Salad
Servings
8 Servings
Ingredients
- 8 ounce Farfalle sometimes known as bow tie or Gnocchi shaped pasta
- Oil for deep frying
- 5-6 spring onions chopped into ½-inch pieces
- 8 ounce baby tomatoes
- Chopped fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley for decoration
- 3 tablespoon pesto sauce
- 1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
- 1/3 cup pasta sauce
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Cook pasta as per packet instructions.
- Once pasta has been cooked, wash it in cold water and drain well.
- Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the pasta in small batches until golden brown and crispy. Remove and drain on paper towel or brown paper.
- The fried pasta can be made up to three days in advance and stored at room temperature in an airtight container. It shouldn’t got soft, but if it does, put into a preheated oven at 350 deg F for 10 – 12 minutes to crisp up. Then you can make an even louder crunch!
- When ready to assemble, place the pasta into a serving bowl, sprinkle with the spring onions and add the tomatoes.
- To make the dressing, combine the ingredients.
- Just before serving, pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss and serve immediately, decorated with the chopped basil or flat-leaf parsley.
- TIP This salad should be delicately glazed with salad dressing but you can up the salad dressing to 1/2 cup per ingredient and 4 tablespoons of pesto if you’d prefer more dressing.
You know when you’re at a buffet table and you overhear people saying “Have you tried this salad, you’ve gotta! ” and you turn around to see which salad they’re talking about – well this is it !!
In fact I make it so often, I double up on the pasta because once boiled and then fried it will stay crunchy and crisp for at least two weeks in an airtight container. Enjoy !!
This has got to be the strangest salad recipe I’ve ever seen. But I am going to have to try it. Frying pasta is intriguing – and the dressing mixture is very unusual. I will post a review after I make it. Thanks for the recipe.