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Year of the Noodle: Week 24

I am overwhelmed by how many pasta salad recipes exist on the Internet.

Apparently if you serve pasta cold, you can put anything in it.  Things you wouldn’t dream of putting into a warm noodle dish.  Things like cucumbers or mayonnaise. Oranges and condensed sweetened milk.  Even dill and tuna can live in harmony in a pasta salad.  Or so the Internet tells me (my gag reflex says otherwise.)

It took a lot of searching to find a pasta salad with no offensive ingredients and no mayo.  And I think I did well.  I tend to think roasted red pepper makes everything good, though.  The consensus at our early Fourth of July barbecue was that a regular mozzarella would have been better than the smoked.  That’s a good thing, seeing as I had a really hard time finding the smoked version.  So instead of hunting all over for smoked mozzarella, just use chunks of regular mozzarella.

Happy Fourth of July!  I hope you enjoy a nice, laid back holiday with lots of sunshine – and no one forces you to eat pasta salad with tuna and dill :)

Grilled Zucchini, Roasted Red Pepper and Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 pounds zucchini
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 ounces dried gemelli, penne or any similar size pasta
  • 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch long strips*
  • 4 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, cut into 1-inch-long strips
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
  • Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
  1. Preheat the grill or the broiler.
  2. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Lay the slices on a piece of aluminum foil or on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Transfer to the grill or broiler and cook until the zucchini is browned on both sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate; when the zucchini is cool enough to handle, cut into pieces similar in size to the pasta. Set aside.
  3. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until it is al dente — done but still a little firm to the bite. Drain the pasta in a colander, rinse with cold water until the pasta is completely cool and drain again until it is free of excess water. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, combine the cooked zucchini, pasta, the roasted pepper, smoked mozzarella, the remaining olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
  5. NOTE: To roast bell peppers:  Place them on a piece of aluminum foil under the broiler, about 4 inches from the flame. Let the peppers become blistered and charred on one side, then rotate so a new side is exposed. Continue until most of the skin is charred. Don’t worry if the peppers lose their form. Place the peppers in a resealable plastic bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the skin.

Source: The Washington Post