As we established in last week’s interview with a nutritionist, pasta is not evil, so here are some recipes for a few lovely pasta dishes that are perfect for summer. They include two fresh and light pasta salad recipes and two hot pasta dishes. All the recipes come together super fast so you don’t have to spend a lot of time near the stove and they all pair beautifully with a glass or two of chilled white wine.
Barilla PLUS® Spaghettini with Garlic, Red Pepper & Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
1 box
To taste
4 tablespoons (5 cl) extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves
To taste
1 tablespoon (20 leaves) parsley, chopped
Preparation:
- Bring water to a boil and season with salt.
- Cook the pasta 1 minute less than required cooking time. Meanwhile, sauté garlic and chili flakes in olive oil until slightly yellow in color.
- Add 1 cup of cooking liquid and bring to a boil.
- Drain pasta and toss with sauce and parsley.
Barilla® Macaroni Pasta Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 box
3 tablespoons (35 ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons (20 ml) lemon juice
2 pints (594 grams) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 ball (112.5 grams) fresh mozzarella, diced
6 leaves
To taste salt
To taste black pepper
Steps
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season with salt and cook pasta 1 minute under required cooking time. Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and place on a sheet tray to cool down.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients together and gently toss them. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Barilla Rotini® Salad with Zucchini, Shrimp, Scallops & Mussels
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 box BARILLA® Rotini
To taste salt
4 tablespoons (50 ml) extra virgin olive oil
½ pound (227 grams) mussels, steamed
1 clove garlic
3 zucchini sliced in half moons
To taste black pepper
½ pound (227 grams) scallops, diced
½ pound (227 grams) shrimp, halved lengthwise
4 tablespoons (50 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon (20 leaves) parsley, chopped
Steps
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season the water with salt and cook pasta 1 minute less than required cooking time.
- Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and place on sheet tray to cool down.
- In a small pot, steam the mussels until they are opened, remove from shell and discard. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil until lightly yellow in color. Add zucchini and sauté for 4 minutes, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- In a separate skillet, saute scallops and shrimp in 1 tablespoon olive oil until lightly golden in color.
- Season and set aside to cool down. Once everything has cooled, combine all the seafood with the pasta and zucchini. Toss to combine and add the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and parsley.
Barilla PLUS® Rotini with Fresh Tomatoes, Aromatic Herb Pesto & Ricotta Salata
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 Pkg
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 plum
1 clove
3 sprigs
3 sprigs
6 leaves
1 tablespoon (25 leaves) parsley
3 sprigs
¼ cup walnuts
¼ cup skim or nonfat ricotta salata, shredded
To taste salt
To taste black pepper
Steps
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a large skillet, saute tomatoes in 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, combine all dry ingredients in blender. pulse for 10 seconds or until finely chopped.
- Drizzle in remaining olive oil and a few ice cubes slowly to create the pesto.
- Place pesto in bowl and add ½ cup pasta cooking liquid.
- Drain pasta and toss with pesto and tomatoes. Garnish with shredded cheese.
