Description
Jammy and charred sweet summer peppers, cherry tomatoes, and shallots with fusillotti pasta and basil, tossed in a roasted garlic herb vinaigrette – aka a classic pasta salad that takes full advantage of summer produce.
Ingredients
Scale
Roasted Veggies
- 6 (150 g or 4 oz) mini sweet peppers, halved and de-seeded
- 6.5 oz (180 g) cherry tomatoes, whole
- 2 medium shallots, sliced lengthwise
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- Kosher salt
- Olive oil
Other Ingredients
- 8 oz (225 g) dry fusillotti or any similar pasta
- 1/2 cup (86 g) finely minced sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup (18 g) packed basil leaves
Roasted Garlic Herb Vinaigrette
- 3 tbsp (30 g) lemon juice
- 3 tbsp (32 g) olive oil (use oil from sun-dried tomatoes)
- 1 tbsp (11 g) honey
- 1 tsp italian herbs
- 1 tsp aleppo pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt (start with 1 tsp and adjust as needed)
Instructions
- Roast the veggies. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and throw on all the veggies – place the peppers skin-side up so they char. Toss everything in olive oil and kosher salt at roast at 450°F for 25-30 minutes or until the peppers are slightly charred. I typically pull the cherry tomatoes out early, around the 15 minute mark, as they char a lot faster than the other veggies. However, depending on how big the cherry tomatoes are they could need the full 25 minutes. NOTE: Slice the tops off the garlic cloves so you can easily squeeze out the garlic when it’s done roasting. Additionally, when you pull the tomatoes out, spread out the peppers and shallots to give them more room to properly cook and char, not steam.
- Cook the pasta. Add the pasta to a large pot of water and cook according to package instructions – salt the water to season the pasta from within. I like to overcook the pasta because pasta firms up when it’s cold. Drain and rinse the pasta and dump it into a bowl.
- Slice the veggies. Once the veggies are done roasting, slice the peppers and shallots, mince the sun-dried tomatoes, and add them to the bowl of pasta along with the cherry tomatoes and basil.
- Make the vinaigrette. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together – smush the garlic against the bowl so it incorporates better in the dressing. Alternatively, you could blend the dressing (add the Italian herbs and pepper after the marinade is blended).
- Toss and serve. Toss the salad with the dressing, adjust for salt, and enjoy!
Notes
I prefer this pasta salad warm, but it tastes equally good cold.