This Is Why You Should Never Use Fresh Pasta for Your Pasta Salad
Pasta salad seems like one of those dishes that can’t go wrong. Cook your favorite pasta, throw some of your favorite ingredients together and you’re ready to dig in. Right? Think again. You can actually ruin your pasta salad quite easily. Too little or too much dressing, for example — definite no-gos. And there are more pasta salad mistakes you really shouldn’t make. Here’s another tip: never use fresh pasta. I’ll tell you why.
Choosing the right type of pasta is the trick to making a perfect pasta salad. Long pasta varieties, such as tagliatelle, aren’t very practical, for example. The same goes for tube-shaped pasta. All those carefully selected and chopped ingredients disappear inside it. What a waste! So you’d also be better off leaving fresh pasta alone if your goal is the most delicious pasta salad possible.
No fresh pasta in pasta salad
One of the key characteristics of pasta salad is that it is served cold. On top of that, it often gets covered in quite a lot of heavier, mayonnaise-like dressings. Fresh pasta is far too delicate to be chilled for an extended period of time, especially when drenched in heavy dressings. What’s more, fresh pasta already contains quite a lot of moisture: add dressing to that and it turns into one big mess. No, nobody is waiting for that.
So which pasta should you use?
So, no fresh pasta for your pasta salad. Instead, head over to the dried pasta aisle. Dried pasta retains its shape much better after cooking than fresh pasta. That’s because many types of dried pasta don’t contain eggs. In short, dried pasta provides a sturdy base for your pasta salad. Choose pasta with texture or curly shapes, such as farfalle and fusilli. Your dressing can cling perfectly to the nooks and pockets of these pasta shapes.
Now all you need is the right amount of dressing and your ticket to pasta salad heaven is secured. Tip: mix three-quarters of the dressing into the pasta salad before it goes into the fridge to chill, then add the rest little by little once you take it out.
Also read:
- How to make pasta salad that isn’t gross
- 7 pasta crimes you should prevent
- 10x the best tips for pasta
Source: Tasting Table
